Qantas?
 

Hey guys,

just thought id get your input on this:

I am a current instrument student working towards an eventual career in the civilian aviation field. Should take my Check ride here in a week, and then on with my Commercial within the next year.

I'm currently in college and have two years left before i get my four year degree.....so I'm not in a huge hurry, as i plan to have plenty of hours before i graduate. After graduation, i figure ill try and get a job at a Regional or perhaps a small time cargo carrier to build time......

My question is does an American have a chance in hell of eventually flying for Qantas?

Ive always liked Australia, and especially had a great opinion of Qantas.....so i figured i would try and apply after i achieve the flight time necessary to allow my eventual move to a major airline/cargo carrier.

Recently, i boarded an American Eagle flight.....and i usually stop by the cockpit and talk to the pilots (because its all about who you know right?!) So i give them my name, future plans (because I'm shooting for AE when i graduate). To my amazement, the FO was from New Zealand. I immediately asked him about the airline environment down under and he said that they aren't very keen on taking applicants that aren't native to the area. He of course was building time here in the states and eventually planned to return and fly for Air New Zealand...

so is this guy right? Do i even bother trying to enter the civilian aviation field down under? This is assuming i have experience back stateside with a regional and meet the general requirements for any major airline......

He'd be absolutely right. It's not easy to get a job at an airline in AU/NZ unless you've got oodles of experience. There's no reason they'd choose a local over you, as long as you've got residency/a work permit plus a great attitude :)

*waits for KoruPilot to type out a book-length reply*:p

As a yank that is new to the southern hemisphere I can tell your dream is not impossible, but there are a few large hurdles you must overcome (even after you have the required experience)...

1) Immigration: you MUST hold Australian Permanent Residency status via visa, Oz passport, or citizenship. Presently pilots are not on the Skilled Occupation List so your professional qualifications will not get you into the country. PR is a minimum eligibility requirement for Qantas, Virgin Blue or Jet Star.

2) License Conversion: this is not an easy or inexpensive process. My background is USAF, nearly 8 years of world wide heavy flying experience, and I hold numerous jet type ratings on a FAA ATP. In order to convert my FAA ATP to a CASA ATPL, I will require an Aussie Class 1 medical, 3 written exams (Instrument, CPL & ATP Air Law), and a flying check in a light twin for the initial issue of a Multi-engine Command Instrument Rating (CIR).

Like all things in aviation this is subject to change, however it should give you a basic idea of the issues! If you would like more detailed info as I complete the process let me know...

See CASA at http://www.casa.gov.au/fcl/transfer.htm

As a favour to schwanm I shall keep　ティｓｂりえｆ。

Bloody Japanese hotel computer keeps translating for me.

You have to get yourself permanant residence in Oz or NZ. I am Canadaian and have PR for NZ-. I have been with Air NZ for a couple years now; very good place. They do want some decent turbine time, likely 3000 total with 1000 on turbos plus some command.

Running out of time on this thing so if you have specific Air NZ questions just PM me. Off to the Barge Inn for some Asahis.

ぢｋぢｐづｐ；ｓｂくいろｐｇｋｚ；あおすいれんｈこｐうぇ

I did have a feeling that certain items such as citizenship and license conversion would be part of the issue, and i am perfectly fine with such things.....

its good to hear that there are other "Foreigners" heading down to the Australia/NZ area other than China and the Middle East. That area has always appealed to me for some reason.....

are there many foreign pilots in the area? Or are they few and far between?

P.S. How would one acquire Permanent Residency?

Hey Flyboy and gang... been up to my a$$ in alligators here...

Flyboy...Easiest way to Permanent Residency for me and MayFly is to marry a Kiwi/Aussie. There are other ways of course but accent is just too cool... LOL

MayFly...How's it going down there? I'm interested in hearing about the cost/timeline you are looking at. Time and $$$ may be a bit of an issues for me .

Hi Koru...Do you know if there is a All ATP's type outfit in NZ? I would need to do cram course to get the testing / checkrde done for my Commercial as Margie mentioned...I've all but given up getting my ATP converted. Hope all is well with you and P. Karen heads back in a couple of weeks.

Cheers,
JD

This could be of some use to get your ATP converted to an NZ one :

http://www.ppsc.co.nz/Default.asp

haha,

ill be sure to go to www.match.com.au


hahaha

Qf?
 

Gidday,

Not sure if you did a search but I answered a similar type question a while back. I'm an F/O on the 737 with Qantas. I was US military for about 8 years then RAAF. There are a handful of americans in QF. A large # joined during the pilot's dispute of 1989 but most of them are gone now. Those of us here now have gone down a similar route to the one being described to you above. All the info these guys have posted is accurate. I can confirm that, if you jump through those hoops, you can get a job down here. I'll just caution you that this part of the world is a net supplier of pilots to the rest of the world. That means there are heaps of pilots here chasing a limited number of jobs. It can be done, obviously, but it's not easy. Best of luck.

TDK

So do you guys that have made this jump think its worth it?

is the QOL badass?

is the flying like it should be!?

Whats your input?

Obviously trenttdk will have the best information as he works there, but I'd have to put in these words from an outside observer. The Australian aviation industry is going ( has gone ) much the way that it has in the USA. There has been a move away from traditional full serivce carriers to the low cost alternatives. Look at Virgin Blue and Jet* along with other newcomers. In fact, Australia is now ahead of the USA with the advent of a low cost international carrier in Jet* International. This transformation has not, and does not, bode well for a career with Qantas. Qantas is using it's low fare arm, Jet*, for expansion.

Junior Qantas pilots are already leaving in search of better alternatives. Quite a few have joined Emirates in the last few months, this much to my surprise.

Another thing to consider is the work environment. The pilot culture is very different from that of U.S. carriers. It may not be to your liking.



Typhoonpilot

Very well put! You have a future in the diplomatic corps.:D

thats bad to hear.....

i was hoping that the American Market and its tendencies hasnt filtered down there.....


Im not sure why I have such an interest in that area, i have always wanted to fly and i figured that flying in Australia could be a good alternative to some of the cons of the North American flying industry

Jet Star, from what I understand, pays pretty decent ($180K for a skipper on the 330). You have to have a type rating, but that type of nonesense may end down here at some point as both Virgin and Jet Star are losing pilots in droves. Virgin is seriously talking about getting rid of the requirement for a type rating as the discounters find it more difficult to get good pilots, or keep the ones they have, and their pay is not too shabby to be fair.

When a person pays their own way they do not have loyalty to the company. With the diaspora of drivers going to EK (and everywhere else for that matter) which frankly is a bit of a 'grass is always greener' move, the discounters are having crewing problems, and for the time being may end this disaster of pay for training. Get rid of a couple 'contract' companies which will remain nameless, and the problem could be solved quicker.

The S/O positions are currently being filled by experinced pilots, both at QF and NZ. It is a good job and a good lifestyle, but it's not a great lifestyle and, even though we are fully type rated and current, we don't get to land. Some trips you can feal like a glorified flight attendant who get's to do the walk around.

So, for S/O's they have hired highly experienced pilots, given them full type ratings and operational experience; if you were offered a job properly flying the beasty with an airline getting more money and, imagine, to land the thing, you'd think pretty hard about it. And all these airlines around the Pacific Rim that want qualified pilots are going to be loveing it.

Perhaps there is an upside here. Without the big operations employing S/O's on effectively 'B' scale, many drivers would not have the ability (type rating and ops experience)nor the desire to move to a company that wants them as actual pilots. Looking at the longer term, it is a good move and both NZ and QF, regardless of their respective low cost arms will continue to hire many pilots into the main-line operations.

That all said, I don't land the thing, but most of the guy's sitting in front of me have the auto-pilot in at 400ft and out at 500ft, max, so I don't feal too bad. I am also making out quite well with overtime at the moment while we are short, and we get treated pretty well by the company in many other respects. Personally, I still believe that it's a good job and worth pursueing if you are that way inclined.