The Qantas Group says it expects to create over 8,500 new high-skill jobs in Australian aviation over the next decade.
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Qantas says these additional roles include pilots (1600), engineers(800), cabin crew (4500) and airport ops staff (1600), and are driven by investments in new aircraft and increased flying to meet long-term demand through Qantas, Jetstar, QantasLink and Qantas Freight.
It will hire more than 30,000 frontline people over the next 10 years, accounting for regular attrition and growth. In total, the Group will have an estimated 32,000 people by 2033 compared with around 23,500 currently.
The growth is to support the fleet plan with orders and purchase rights for up 299 narrow-body and 12 widebody aircraft for delivery over the next decade.
Last week, Qantas announced up to 22 mid-life and wet-leased aircraft to arrive in the next two years to help meet growth from multiple sectors, including leisure travel, freight and the resources industry.
The airline has also announced that it will establish the Qantas Group Engineering Academy in Australia, with capacity to train up to 300 engineers a year.
The Academy will provide aviation engineers for the Qantas Group as well as the broader aviation industry, including defence contractors and general aviation – two areas with high demand for these skills.
Over the next decade, the Qantas Group alone will need around 200 new engineering recruits every year to meet growth as well as attrition as current engineers retire. That number exceeds the current national supply of new aviation engineers each year, meaning a new training pipeline is needed.
Qantas will make a multi-million investment to establish the Engineering Academy, which is expected to open its doors to the first students in 2025. A decision on the location for the Academy will be made as part of the final design, which is expected to be determined by the end of 2023.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “Aviation is so important to a country like Australia and you need a big skills pipeline to power it. That’s not just about the major airlines but also small regional operators, defence and general aviation. It’s a whole ecosystem that pilots and engineers, in particular, make their way through, and the long-term skills base required means it relies on constant renewal.
“Qantas is already the single biggest investor in aviation skills in Australia, especially when you consider the constant training of our pilots, engineers and cabin crew just to maintain the status quo.
“From a growth perspective, we opened our pilot academy three years ago and today we’re announcing plans for an engineering academy, which will produce up to 300 trained people a year that will meet Qantas’ needs as well as Australia’s broader aviation ecosystem.
“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. Over that period of time, we’ll create an estimated 8,500 new aviation jobs in Australia, and most of those jobs require years of training.
“Over the next 18 months, we expect to create more than 2,000 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,” added Mr Joyce.
