RonSpiteri

Just a heads up from an aussie (who flies for a regional in the states). Qantaslink does not pay well enough to allow you to live in any of the major east coast cities that they will try and base you in.
The cost of living anywhere in Australia is similar to LA, SFO, NYC etc but your dollar is worth a lot less (I grew up in Sydney and have lived all over Australia, now residing in the mid west USA).
Its a stepping stone job with almost no flow through to Qantas mainline and as an expat you can forget about that.
Time to command is 3+ years.
They have spent the last 2 years being overly picky when recruiting local pilots and as a result have ended up short staffed. They have many pilots who have been offered jobs only then to put them on a hold list for 12+ months.
Why they are attempting to recruit abroad baffles the mind ?
Plenty of USA regional jobs with street captain positions (with the 1000 hours 121 time) going at the moment.

Aurora8

Nah, you have to wear that sissy uniform...white hats?! LOL!

Braniff DC8

So the clipper pilots and susequent pilots at Pan Am were sissies? Air Jamaica wore white hats as well.

I think flying around the world in old piston airplanes after flying the Berlin Airlift, amongst other things, in WHITE HATS, does not make you a sissy.

Pretty ignorant post.

Aurora8

Just a joke, cranky pants!

(By the way, I flew for Queer And Nasty Try Another Service)

VHDSJ

Anyone at Island Air attend the Qantas Link Roadshow last week, offering DASH 8 drivers an opportunity to live and work in Australia?

http://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...94678151188480

808shootz

This is an excerpt from one of the WP pilots that attended. (Some info deleted or reworded to hide identity.):

They have Q400/300 positions in three locations in Australia, first officers start at $80,000 Australian. Captains, line-check airman, and simulator instructors are in the 120-160K range. Schedule is home every night, or 1 night out trips. Extremely generous duty rig, trip bonus, etc. 6-weeks vacation each year. Qantas is required to contribute to a retirement program, and must contribute (at company cost) 10% of an employees wages. They will take care of the work visa, and your family has unrestricted work privilege if they come with you. Private health coverage is about 25% of U.S. cost, and folks still use public health typically. Qantas pays for 28-days of housing when you first arrive so you can shop for a place to live. They will move your house-hold goods.

They have 49 Q400/Q300, with 6 of them in New Zealand under the Jetstar brand.

RonSpiteri

anyone working in Australia on a visa will NOT be covered by the public health system, however private health insurance is much much better (and cheaper) than the joke that is the American system.

https://www.aussiemove.com/healthcar...7-visa-holders

Braniff DC8

I was just givin ya some shiza back is all.

Now Australia, um, go visit before you sign. Lovely place but oz can be expensive. Their culture, both in aviation and personally, is different than ours. Lovely people but we ‘Mericans are just different. If you go being an American in Oz you may find it a pain to acclimate. The Ozzies are fun and will welcome you but you are in Australia NOT America. Standards are more rigid and they can be demanding. I always wanted to go as I spent a lot of time down unda, eating a vegimite sandwich, but I was not fortunate enough. As always, any overseas job has different rules etc... Just don’t go thinking the Ozzies are just EXACTLY like us.

Aurora8

Good advice.
I'm an American but I've spent most of the last 28 years in AUS. There are definite advantages, mainly becuase there's only 24 million people here; and the weather is good (no de-icing on the ramp here), and you don't have to worry about being shot if you cut someone off on the freeway (when I look at the crime stats for any US city I just can't believe it).

There's no such thing as customer service here - staff can be downright rude - which as a 'Yank' (which is what you'll be called here) that has always bothered me.

Neigbours are just people who live next door. Depending on where you live, people won't greet you on the street - even if you pass by them every morning for years.

The cost of living is very high, especially cars, housing, and food. Private health insurance may be cheaper than the US but depending on your status - age, married, kids, etc. - it can still be $400/month+ just like through a regional in the US.

At my current job in AUS the gross salary is A$94K plus 9% 'superannuation' (retirement fund); I take home $5200/month, so I pay $31K in tax/year (and my home mortgage interest was not tax deductible and we pay $250/month for electricity). Still, we do okay, but when we visit family in the US, the price of a car, a pair of Levi's, or a pundet of organic blackberries makes me want to cry! (One thing: mobile phone plans are cheaper here - except for data which is usually limited to 10-15 gigs/month - where we live now, phone internet is all we have!)

4 weeks annual vacation is standard, 6 weeks for 'shift workers' which includes pilots - that's really nice and is a big selling point no doubt. How long do you have to work at Delta to get 6 weeks - 20 years!?

You will probably also find you won't be welcomed and made to feel valued by Qantaslink (I worked there years ago) or any other business in AUS. The business culture here is basically, "Why should we keep you here" from day one - not 'welcome!'; they can't fire you easily because of the work rules, but you can be harassed and bullied to no end - bad management is endemic in AUS.

Aussies are much more left wing in their political views, and intellectual terrorism (political correctness) is very much expected and enforced. If you're a Trump supporter you'll be met with looks of dismay if you're keen enough to admit it (although you won't get hit over the head with a baseball bat like the lefties do in the US). Be prepared to be challenged about everything you think you know about the US; there are other things you learn about the US when you leave it that can make it hard to return (a lot of events labled conspiracy theories in the US are taken as obvious fact in AUS).

I had been considering returning to the US for the past year and it's a really hard choice to make. I recently started with SkyWest, but had to come back To AUS (and the old job) because I couldn't sell my house here, and couldn't afford to pay the mortgage on SKW wages. I've sold the house now and am considering returning.

I know I'd rather hang out with Americans, and American pilots - Aussie pilots have a lot more of their ego invested in the job than 'Yanks.' I'd rather fly in the US too as it's a lot more fun (ATC is the worst here). And, I'd like to be closer to my family.

But then I think my kids are safer here (although I worry about them growing up in a welfare culture which AUS very much is), and private schools are affordable, and it's pretty relaxed here - everything speeds up when we visit family in the US.

Thing is, I still miss Americans, because as you say 'Mericans are just different.' And I think 'different' in a good way, or more specifically - different in a way I appreciate and enjoy.

If you're looking at going overseas, look to Asia or the Middle East. I've never been able to figure out why more American pilots don't go to Asia. All my flying buddies left AUS and they have made out like bandits. China will pay you $300K a year to fly an RJ or a 737!

Just my (ten dollars and) two cents!