'This is so cool': There's never been a better time to get a job on the go
Ashley Hodak has seized the opportunity to pursue a career as a flight attendant amid a job boom in the travel industry. Photo: Brook Mitchell
Ashley Hodak’s new career is about to begin.
The 27-year-old former child care and administrative worker recently completed a five-and-a-half-week flight attendant training program with Virgin Australia. Next week he will join his fellow cabin crew for his first flight from Sydney, bound for Hamilton Island.
“I am so excited!” he says.
Ashley Hodak (center) and her teammates during their final day of training with Virgin Australia. Photo: Brook Mitchell
“I’ve had the Monday to Friday routine of nine to five, but I wanted a different lifestyle, and I’ve always had a passion for being a flight attendant. Now I really like it, and how the days will come. be very different. It’s really cool getting paid to travel and be a part of people’s vacations.”
If you’ve ever dreamed of a career in the travel industry, there’s never been a better time to join, with thousands of jobs now being offered in Australia – and often at better-than-usual rates.
The roles range from flight attendant to pilot, baggage handler to airport cafe worker, travel IT specialist to agent, accountant to flight check-in staff, and everything in between.
“This is an absolutely wonderful time to think about joining the travel industry, with all kinds of jobs on offer, from entry-level staff to pilots,” said Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond.
“The industry has essentially lost an entire generation of workers from people who left during the pandemic, and is now offering more money as it needs to fill these vacancies from a recovery perspective.”
Virgin Australia, like many of the world’s major airlines, now recruits hundreds of roles in cabin crew, baggage handling, guest and corporate services, with perks including heavily discounted air travel and annual travel credits.
“We strive to create a workplace culture that emphasizes the nature of challengers who are authentic, fun, hardworking and disrespectful,” said a Virgin spokesperson.
Qantas and Jetstar have recently recruited over 1000 people for operational roles, and are looking for more, especially with the resumption of international flights, new aircraft orders and additional routes being planned.
“Restarting an airline after two years of being grounded is complex, and the aviation labor market, like many others, is extremely tight,” said Qantas domestic and international chief executive Andrew David.
New Australian low-cost carrier Bonza – due to launch in September – is also recruiting for bases on the Sunshine Coast and Melbourne, with assessment centers running parallel to crew training schools.
“We had about 100 cabin crew and 50 pilot roles filled in a two-month period,” said Bonza chief executive Tim Jordan.
“We also recruited a number of other legends [staff] to join our team including crew controller, operations controller and flight operator on the Sunshine Coast, as well as specialist roles such as in e-commerce, marketing, operations and finance.”
Middle East airline Emirates is also looking for potential Australian candidates to join its cabin crew, with a series of open recruitment days across the country.
Emirates division vice president for Australasia Barry Brown said “as travel demand continues to increase and we scale up our operations locally and globally, of course we need to continue to build our cabin crew team in the sky.
“Australians are well represented in our global workforce, and with significant interest in our previous open days in Australia, we have great optimism that the next wave of recruitment will welcome more Australian talent into our workforce.”
Qatar Airways has also been advertising globally for new staff, looking for all categories of cabin crew, lounge staff, call center workers, ground operations and catering staff, especially ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Doha later this year.
Singapore Airlines is also recruiting operational and commercial staff, with particular emphasis on ground handlers, catering and ground operations; it recruited cabin staff from Asia.
The main airports in Sydney and Melbourne have also hosted job fairs to attract applicants to the hundreds of vacancies that still exist, in addition to their ground handling companies recruiting baggage handlers.
“Now that the uncertainty caused by the lockdown and border closures has ended, we hope that more people will consider careers with airports or airlines,” a Melbourne Airport spokesperson said.
“As one of the largest employment centers in Victoria, there are hundreds of roles to fill.”
Sydney Airport has also advertised more than 5000 jobs in retail, government agencies and terminal service providers, after losing 15,000 jobs during the pandemic. His job fair on June 16 had 4,600 job applications, with people queuing at the airport from 6am to 10am.
Average salary in the travel industry
Pilot: $104,461 per year or $53.57 per hour plus allowance (depending on size of aircraft flown, and years of experience)
Stewardess: $66,670 or $32.00 per hour
Luggage manager: $61,000 or $29.33 per hour
Airport cafe worker: $55,000 or $26.44 per hour
Airport payroll clerk: $71,384 or $34.31 per hour
Airport engineer: $90,000 or $43.27 per hour
Security guard: $71,469 or $34.36 per hour
Airport reception: $60,000 or $28.85 per hour
Air traffic controller: $109,661 or $52.72 per hour
Sources: Fair Work Ombudsman, payscale.com, au.indeed.com and seek.com
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