Australia’s national carrier is on the hunt for 8500 aviation industry workers in the next 10 years as it progressively boosts its aircraft fleet to meet demand for travel.
Some 2000 of those jobs – for cabin crew, pilots, engineers and other operations roles – will be created in the next 18 months, Qantas announced on Friday.
Qantas has 23,500 employees and projects that number will grow to 32,000 by 2033 to support the expected delivery of 299 narrowbody and 12 widebody planes across the same period.
“We order aircraft up to 10 years in advance, so we need to think similarly long-term about the people and skills we need to operate them,” CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement.
“Over the next 18 months, we expect to create more than 2000 new jobs plus replacing natural attrition, so if you’ve ever wanted to work in aviation or at the national carrier, now’s a great time to join.”
Last week, the national carrier posted a statutory net profit of $1 billion for the six months to December 31, compared to a $456 million net loss a year earlier.
At the height of the pandemic, Qantas laid off thousands of workers, creating a knock-on effect when travel resumed with delayed flights, lost baggage and a string of emergency landings.
It received a government COVID-19 bailout to the tune of $2 billion.
Qantas has also announced it will set up a Qantas Group Engineering Academy in Australia to train up to 300 engineers a year for itself and the broader aviation industry.
It will need about 200 engineering recruits a year in the next 10 years.
“Aviation is so important to a country like Australia and you need a big skills pipeline to power it,” Mr Joyce said.
“We look forward to working with the industry, training organisations, unions and governments to finalise details for the engineering academy.”
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Skills and Training Minister Brendan O’Connor welcomed the Qantas announcement.
“Wherever you look there is a skills gap, and according to the OECD, Australia has the second highest labour supply shortage,” he said.
“This is a major economic challenge. But it is also an opportunity of a lifetime for people to get the right skills for jobs that are in demand.
“Australia needs thousands of new workers and engineers to enter the aviation industry to ensure secure jobs and a thriving sector and we welcome this investment by Qantas to help develop these future skills needs.”
Unions were also upbeat about Friday’s announcement.
“For years our union has been crying out for investment in the skills of tomorrow, but good news on that front has been sparse in recent times. Today’s announcement represents a very welcome turning point,” Australian Workers’ Union national secretary Daniel Walton said.
“It takes a long time to train aviation engineers, so today’s investment creates a long pipeline that will result in good quality Australian jobs for many years to come.”
Mr Walton said “Australian aircraft should be serviced and maintained by well-trained Australian engineers”.
“I welcome Qantas’s strong commitment to the future of Australian engineering jobs and look forward to working with the airline to ensure the best possible opportunities are provided to Australians keen to learn,” he said.
“I call on other major Australian employers to take this as a sign of turning tide and to start making their own plans to invest strongly in Australian apprenticeships and Australian skills.”
The academy’s location will be settled by the end of this year.
Overall, Qantas is seeking 4500 cabin crew, 1600 pilots, 800 engineers and 1600 other workers for operational roles in the next decade.
-with AAP
