Married, 31, two kids in school. Am I too old and too settled for Qantas domestic, or is this exactly who they hire?
-
#1 I am writing this as someone who is now six years into exactly the situation people ask about, because I see the question every week in a slightly different form: I am 30, 33, 35, I have children, I have a mortgage, is it too late.
I joined Qantas domestic in Brisbane at 31 with two kids aged 5 and 7 and a husband who works shifts. Here is what that has actually looked like, so you can decide with real information instead of the 'you are never too old, follow your dreams' stuff that does not pay for childcare.
Hiring
Qantas domestic hires across ages and openly likes life experience. In my training group of 20 the youngest was 22 and the oldest was 48. Four of us had children. The interview questions were the same for everyone. Nobody asked about childcare and it would be illegal to. What they did ask was about flexibility and availability, and I answered honestly: I can do earlies and lates, I cannot do a week away at a time. Domestic suits that. Long haul would not.
The roster reality with kids
Domestic in Brisbane means mostly day trips and one or two nights away a week at most, sometimes none. The killers are the 4am sign ons, because someone has to do the school run, and the roster arriving two weeks out, which makes childcare a monthly negotiation. What made it work: a husband on a roster we could interleave, grandparents twenty minutes away, and one paid after school club. Without at least two of those three I do not think it would have worked.
The money
Domestic pay at Qantas is fine for Australia, not exciting. Allowances add up. After six years I earn about what a mid level office job pays, with far better days off. It did not replace a professional salary and I did not expect it to.
The body at 37
The 4am starts are harder now than at 31. Not impossible. I sleep more deliberately than my younger colleagues and I do not drink on layovers. I am not the fastest in the galley and I do not need to be.
Is it exactly who they hire?
Honestly, yes for domestic. A calm 31 year old who has managed a household and a job is a very easy hire for a domestic operation that mostly needs people to turn up, be pleasant and handle a difficult passenger without drama. Long haul international, less so, because they want people who can be away for ten days and that is a different life.
If you are 30 plus with kids and thinking about it: apply for domestic, be honest about availability, and have your childcare plan built before the offer, not after. Ask me anything.
-
#2 Also Qantas Brisbane, and I can vouch for the training group age spread, ours went from 21 to 52. The 52 year old is still flying and is the best person on any crew for a medical. The 4am point is the real one. Everything else is manageable, the sign on times are the tax.
-
#3 Sydney base, Virgin, same job. The two week roster is the thing that breaks people with kids, not the flying. If your partner has a fixed roster it is a puzzle you can solve. If you are both on two week rolling rosters, it is very hard. Say that plainly to anyone asking.
-
#5 Air New Zealand domestic, joined at 34 with one child. Everything here is true across the ditch too. The one thing I would add for the older applicants: the training is intense and you will be studying at night after the kids are in bed for six weeks. Plan for that specifically, it was the hardest part for me, harder than the flying.
-
#6 Jetstar Sydney, 25, no kids, and reading this made me appreciate the mums on my crew a lot more. The ones with kids are always the calmest when things go wrong. Now I know why.
-
#7 Reading from Amman at 33 and this is the first honest answer to this question I have seen. Thank you for the childcare maths, that is the part nobody writes down.
-
#8 Air Transat, joined at 36 with kids, and the only thing I would push back on is the money framing: for me it replaced a retail management salary and improved on it once the allowances came in. Depends where you come from. The days off comparison is right.