Qatar tie-up good for Virgin jobs, says Hrdlicka

Virgin Australia’s wet-lease deal with Qatar Airways will be good for Australian jobs, CEO Jayne Hrdlicka has said, counter to union concerns. Speaking at the Australian Airports Association conference in Brisbane, Hrdlicka said Virgin operating its own long-haul international services would be “at least six or seven years away”, but that the wet-lease arrangement would likely see Virgin pilots and cabin crew working on Qatar flights. “It’s great for jobs in the long term, and in the short term it means pilots and cabin crew have secondment opportunities to go to Qatar, and learn the A350 and 777,” she said, as reported in The Australian. “That means we will have to backfill for all those people. So, if 40 pilots go to Qatar for 12 or 18 months, we would need 40 more pilots in Australia, and the same goes for cabin crew. If I was in my mid-20s and cabin crew I would be all over it, travel the world and have a really fun, different experience, and you know your job is secure when you come home. For those two work groups, it’s great.” The unions have largely been skeptical of the wet-leasing arrangement and its potential impact on jobs, with Teri O’Toole, national secretary of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia (FAAA), telling The Australian she is concerned about pay and conditions for Virgin workers on Qatar flights. “Qatar pays its crew about $26 an hour, which is well below what flight attendants in Australia are paid,” she said.<br/>