Who is really getting the Quantas SO job?
 

I started a thread on Cathay Pacific to find out what the starting pay for the SO job there was. I was disappointingly also informed that regardless of their posting 1000TT and a passed ATP written on their website as minimums, those people actually getting the job had, in all reality, between 2500 - 3000TT and jet experience.

In light of this, has anyone gotten hired at Quantas for the SO job lately and what kind of hours do/did you have? Could you comment on the experience level of the trainees?

Likely the people getting hired know how to spell it for starters . . . sorry, cheap shot but I just couldn't resist. It's Qantas mate, no 'u'.

I would assume, with ease really, that the published SO minimums at QF are very close to Air NZ, which is something like 500 hours and the ATPL writtens complete.

In reality, at Air NZ and again likely over at QF, the reality is something much different. My interview class three years ago at ANZ was a bunch of captains or Airforce commanders with at least 3500 total. Most of us had at least four figures of turbine command, a couple had jet command, and the times went as high as 7000 hours.

People in this neck of the woods take SO positions with the majors here, QF and ANZ, because they are generally from here and want to stay here; ie. do not want to go to CX, EK etc. For that reason the competition is pretty fierce. Also, for either airline, you would at least require permanent residency to be accepted for an interview. If you do not have that, or any chance of getting it, you will simply not get an interview.

Bagdeman

Timing is everything in aviation, and unfortunately you have hit the wave at a bad time. There are a lot of highly experienced pilots on the street looking for work right now.

When you start talking about the likes of QF, ANZ, and CX remember that these are major flag carriers so there is very serious competition for these jobs.

For Qantas take a good hard look at the Qantas Minimum Criteria for Direct Entry Pilots and see if you honestly meet the Residency and Qualification requirements. If you are not Australian, below is a previous post that details getting into Australian aviation.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/fo...tml#post247272

In the meantime relax, enjoy the flying, improve your jobs where you can, and wait for the ride to smooth out. You've got till age 65 and you don't want to burn bridges before you even start...esp with the guys that will help you out!

MayFly

100% Right!

QANTAS---Queensland And Northern Territories Aerial Service!

Unlike so many of my counterparts, at least I know that it's "Cathay" Pacific, not "Cathy". That drives me nuts! :D

With folks so willing to underlook a simple miskey "Quantas/Qantas", I'm really not very sure there are any bridges here to burn. A quote taken from MayFly135.

I know, I was just kidding. Sorry about that.

If you have the right to work and some good time in the log book it is a great area of the world to live.

Good luck.

......Okay. :)

Good thread. Thanks for sharing and the advise. It really looks like by the time I had all this sorted out I'd have the 3000-4000hrs (up from 1000TT) needed to even be seriously considered.

When I first started my new direction in life, Fortune 500 Magazine had just published an article entitled "Top 10 Sure Thing Jobs of the New Millennia!" Airline pilot was on that list. I always knew flying was going to be something I'd enjoy anyway, but I'd sure like to find that columnist now and.....

I guess it just goes to show you, there really are no experts in anything.

When I renewed my Australian IR earlier this year I got talking to a couple of guys at the flight school, that had just interviewed at QF for SO jobs. They were both instructors that had about 2500 hours a piece and from what I could learn, most of the guys they thought QF was taking for the SO positions came from the cadet scheme.

QF is NOT what it used to be; with the introduction of Jet*, QF pilots have essentially allowed an alter-ego airline on their turf that has so far taken over the QF A330's and is due to receive the majority of the 787's that QF has on order.

Competition for QF is beyond anything you could imagine and really, without having grown up in the Australian Aviation petri dish you're probably SOL.

There was a time when I'd have given my left nut for a job there, but not any more.

I honestly don't get it. If there is such an extreme pilot shortage in Australia why is the competition so fierce at Qantas? Why would the Australian government be making it so hard for foreign pilot to get a job in an industry virtually starving to death for airmen? I thought ICAO solved all these problems of "your system, not my system.". I get it. I am walking into the world of applied aviation vs. the world of aviation theory I spent the last 6 years of my life in during college and flight school.