Cabin crew pay in Australia and New Zealand: the award, the enterprise agreements, the per diems and what the net buys in Sydney and Auckland
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#1 Qantas international, and the Australian pay question appears across the Australian threads in fragments. Here is the consolidated version for the Australian and New Zealand applicants, structure not numbers, because the numbers are in the public agreements and move with each one.
The award and the agreements
Australia has a cabin crew modern award (the floor set by the Fair Work Commission) and each airline negotiates an enterprise agreement above it with the FAAA (the union), public through Fair Work. Qantas has separate agreements for domestic, international and the different crew groups (the legacy and the newer ones, which has been a union issue). Virgin and Jetstar have theirs. Air New Zealand has the E tū and FAAA NZ collective agreements under the New Zealand system.
The structure
A basic by grade and years, an hourly flying pay or a duty based payment depending on the agreement, the per diems (the meal and incidental allowances per hour or per day away, which for the international crew are a large part of the income), the overtime and the additional duty payments, the superannuation (the Australian pension contribution, mandatory, a real percentage), and the Australian tax, which is progressive and takes a real share.
By airline, in structure
Qantas international: the top of the Australian scale, the per diems on the long haul, the ultra long haul allowances, the slowest promotion. Qantas domestic: a lower scale, the domestic per diems, home most nights. Virgin: the middle, the agreement after the rebuild, the short haul international allowances. Jetstar: the lowest of the four, the low cost structure, the 787 medium haul allowances for the senior crew. Air NZ: the New Zealand scale, which converts below the Australian in dollar terms with Auckland cheaper than Sydney, the long haul per diems as the income for the international crew.
What the net buys
Sydney: a new joiner shares; a mid seniority international crew member lives alone in a suburb; a senior lives well. Melbourne and Brisbane are cheaper than Sydney and the crew at those bases know it. Auckland is between Brisbane and Sydney on cost and the Air NZ scale is calibrated to it. Nobody saves Gulf money in Australia and New Zealand and everybody has the superannuation, the holidays and the agreement.
The Gulf comparison for Australians
The Gulf pays more and provides housing and has no pension. Australia pays less and has the superannuation, the agreement and home. Ava's reply in the Qantas thread is the honest version: most Australians in the Gulf chose the money; some regret it on the London layover. The Australians at home chose the agreement; some regret it on the pay day. Both are rational.
For applicants
Read the enterprise agreement for the airline you are applying to; it is public and it answers every pay question. Budget for the Sydney rent or choose a cheaper base. And know that the superannuation is the thing the Gulf does not give and that it compounds for 30 years.
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#2 Qantas domestic, and the domestic versus international agreement split is the thing new joiners do not understand until the payslip: two scales, two crew groups, one airline. James has the structure. The agreement is the source.
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#3 Virgin, and the middle placement is fair and the post rebuild agreement is public. The superannuation compounding for 30 years is the Australian answer to the Gulf money and the one the 25 year olds do not hear.
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#4 Jetstar, and the lowest of the four is honest and the 787 allowances for the seniors are the reason to stay. Sydney rent on a Jetstar junior net is a share and a budget. James has it.
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#5 Air NZ purser, and the NZ scale converting below the Australian with Auckland cheaper is right, and the E tū agreement is the source for us as the FAAA is for them. The long haul per diems are the Air NZ international income, exactly.
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#6 Emirates from Auckland, and the Gulf comparison paragraph is fair to both sides and I am the Australian who chose the money and regrets it on the London layover. The superannuation is the thing I do not have and think about at 30.
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#7 SAS, and the Australian system (the award, the agreement above it, the superannuation, the union) is the closest in the world to the Scandinavian one. The two regions have the same trade with the Gulf. James has written the Australian version of my pension thread.
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#8 @avagalley the superannuation at 30 is the thing the Gulf crew think about and the Australian crew forget to appreciate. Both of us are right at 30 and one of us is right at 60. I hope it is me.