Australian flag carrier, Qantas (QF), is one of the world’s oldest and safest airlines and has one of the best pilots and a pretty good salary offering. With a fleet of 125 narrow and wide-body aircraft and an additional 64 on order, it is the dominant force in the Oceanian skies.
Qantas’ reputation in the aviation industry is envious given that they have routes in every inhabited continent in the world. With that in mind, have you ever wondered what salaries their first officers and captains earn?
Qantas Pilots Salary: How Much First Officers Make?
The first officers at Qantas are usually graduates from their cadet program or individually educated pilots. At the start of their careers, cadet graduates are reportedly paid more than AUD $70,000 while working for QantasLink, the airline’s regional brand.
The airline is currently hiring the first officer for QantasLink and they are offering AUD $79,252 – $94, 383 + Super + Allowances. You can apply here.
Until recently, the carrier would fly the Boeing 717 but phased the aged aircraft out in favor of the Airbus A220. QantasLink also operates a handful of Airbus A320s, while the Boeing 737s dominate the parent airline’s narrow-body fleet.
An entry-level pilot flying Boeing 737s earns around $100,000. First officers flying the heavies can expect a maximum of AU$200,000 annually, though there are additional benefits like family flying allowances, insurance, and other typical perks, including layover budgets.
The Qantas Group is also hiring Boeing 737 First Officers for JetConnect, which operates flights between Australia and New Zealand. You can apply here.
Also Read American Airlines Pilot Salary in 2024 How Much First Officer and Captain Earn?
Qantas Captain Salary
The captains at Qantas earn over AU$200,000 per annum and salaries can stretch through to AU$400,000 depending on experience and seniority. The captains are entitled to identical benefits as first officers but receive an additional flying bonus for every flight as well.
With that in mind, captains flying the longer intercontinental routes on the Airbus A330s, Boeing 787s, and Airbus A380s are consistently making upwards of AU$500,000 per year.
Fair Work Commission’s Salary Requirements in Australia
The Fair Work Commission in Australia reviewed its salary structure for pilots for the 2023-24 financial year. As far as Qantas is concerned, there are mainly three different breakdowns of the minimum salaries of full-time pilots depending on their status and aircraft category.
First officers on narrow-body airplanes (like the Boeing 737 and Airbus A220) are entitled to receive at least AU$111,060 in annual salaries, while those flying single-decker wide-bodies (Airbus A330s and Boeing 787s) must earn AU$127,404. For FOs flying the double-decker Airbus A380s, the minimum wage figure stands at AU$143,748 per year.
Second-officer salaries are not very relevant in the context of narrow bodies as they operate shorter flights. However, their minimum payment requirement on single-deck wide-body aircraft and double-deck wide-body aircraft is AU$77,284 and AU$87,090, respectively.
Captains are paid an exponentially higher figure. Those on narrow-body airliners can expect salaries starting at AU$168,634 per year, whereas commanders on single-deck wide-body planes must be paid at least AU$193,611. In Qantas’ fleet, only Airbus A380 pilots are entitled by law to earn a minimum of AUD200k per year as their benchmark sits at AU$218,591 from the FWC.
Benefits to Qantas Pilots
Apart from the basic monetary and conventional benefits received by pilots, Qantas offers to take good care of their commanders by offering a minimum 3% increase in annual payment and an additional AU$5,000 bonus as part of their COVID-19 recovery program.
Moreover, pilots get a guaranteed weekend off per roster (which runs over 14 days) and have to work for just nine days per fortnight, thereby ensuring five days off as opposed to four, which are offered by the stern competitor Virgin Australia (VA).
What about Jetstar pilots?
Jetstar Australia (JQ) is a low-cost subsidiary run by Qantas, which was created to battle competition from Virgin’s former carrier, Virgin Blue. Out of 84 planes, 11 are Dreamliners while the rest are from the A320 family in Jetstar’s fleet.
Interestingly, Jetstar operates on an entirely independent model as compared to Qantas. They don’t have a cadet program and rarely hire first officers freshly graduated, but that means their lowest category of FOs makes AU$128,000 per year.
Jetstar captains can earn salaries as high as AU$300,000, irrespective of the aircraft they operate. They are all entitled to industry benefits and are paid a rate for each flying hour, though that is understood to be significantly lesser than Qantas’.
Also Read Southwest Airlines Pilot Salary in 2024: How Much Captain and First Officer Earn?
Payments for pilots as per their region
Qantas employs its bases in Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney. There is no clarity though on whether the airlines account for regional parities in their annual salaries.
Jetstar does, however, but that’s mainly due to their pilots being based in the five main Australian cities, as well as in Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand, where it operates domestic flights and trans-Tasman trips.
Are Qantas Pilots happy with their compensation?
The payment received by the Qantas pilots looks attractive from the outset but there has been a vocal and somewhat public outrage regarding the same.
Pilots believe they are not fairly paid, particularly referencing Virgin Australia colleagues, who are reportedly earning a better overall compensation. There has been a mass opposition of the leadership as well given Qantas’ CEO pockets a stunning AU$24 million per annum.
A number of pilots who have been employed by the airline for several years have felt dismayed by their salaries being somewhat stagnant.
Qantas, among other Australian airlines, has lost its pilots to overseas competitors like Cathay Pacific, China Southern, Emirates, and Qatar Airways, where aviators are paid twice as much money as Qantas.
Pilots are especially attracted by the prospect of heading to the Middle East given the attractive benefits as well as a tax-free income.
Recently, Qantas has found itself in troubled waters as pilots and ground personnel are threatening a strike after refusing the airline’s latest retention offer of AU$18,000 per year.
You can check all the latest vacancies here: Qantas Pilots Job Openings
What next for Qantas?
Qantas has very ambitious growth plans in the upcoming years which are evidenced by their order of 64 aircraft combined from Airbus and Boeing. 12 of these including A350-1000s would be specifically used for Project Sunrise flights from 2026.
The plan announced in 2017 is one of the aviation industry’s most gutsy moves as Qantas plans on flying nonstop from Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney to cities like Cape Town, London, New York, Paris, and Rio de Janiero – with some of these routes having estimated block times of over 20 hours. It is expected that Qantas will use the A35Ks on order for these flights.
With that in mind, employee satisfaction will have to be just as big a goal for the airlines. Pilots are the soul of any carrier, so if Qantas is indeed looking to pioneer flights breaching the 20-hour barrier, it has some socks to pull up and match overseas competition, particularly those airlines that are poaching their existing employees.
On the contrary, there seems to be little quarrel amongst pilots from Jetstar and Virgin Australia which also hints at Qantas’ situation being more precarious behind the scenes than things actually suggest.
It will be interesting to see what further developments occur regarding the situation and how much compensation QF is willing to offer in its next move. As always, Aviation A2Z will bring you the latest updates.
Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.
Join us on Telegram Group for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News
