Qantas asks former crew to return to help keep pace with demand for travel

The airline has sent recruitment emails to 1500 cabin crew who left during the pandemic, asking them to come back to help keep pace with demand for travel.

Qantas has embarked on a recruitment drive targeting the 1500 cabin crew who left during the pandemic with one condition – long-serving crew return on lower pay and conditions.

The move comes as the airline continues to ramp up operations post-Covid-19, with one new aircraft joining the Qantas group every three weeks on average.

In an email to former crew, executive manager Leeanne Langridge said they were now recruiting and training “more cabin crew than ever” with more than 1500 expected to join by the end of 2023.

“As one of our cabin crew members who made an incredibly difficult decision to leave Qantas during the pandemic, we want to provide an update on how our recovery is going and the very different circumstances in which we’re operating today,” read the email from Qantas cabin crew manager Leeanne Langridge.

“Our crew are now operating to more than 45 domestic and 18 international destinations. Our domestic network is close to 100 per cent of pre-Covid capacity and our international network is expected to be at 80 per cent by mid-year.”

She went on to say that “as an experienced former cabin crew member, we are reaching out to you to see if you are interested in being part of Qantas’ next chapter”.

Hundreds of Qantas cabin crew gathered to say farewell to the airline and their jobs in early 2021. Now Qantas wants them back. Picture: John Feder

Flight Attendants Association of Australia national secretary Teri O’Toole said it was encouraging to see Qantas recognised the depth of experience that was lost with the 1500 crew who left the company around Covid-19.

“Of course we’re not happy that these crew come back on lesser conditions and pay then when they left but some cabin crew are dedicated to the role and miss their colleagues, and will want to come back,” said Ms O’Toole.

“We have the best crew in the world in Australia and we think this is a brilliant initiative to bring them back.”

Former customer service manager Greg, who did not want his surname used, said he spent 27-years with the airline before taking the decision to leave at the height of the pandemic.

“It was just too unstable, not knowing what you were going to be doing week after week, month after month,” said Greg.

“It was a very difficult decision, I loved my job and the people I worked with.”

Almost two-years later, he was ready to return even though he knew he would not be paid what he was earning pre-Covid.

“It is what it is. I just haven’t felt quite the same fit in my new role,” he said.

“Nothing compares to putting on that Qantas uniform and representing the airline around the world.”

It’s understood cabin crew like Greg who were on “legacy” agreements pre-pandemic would have to accept lower pay but those who were employed more recently would not.

A Qantas spokeswoman said as well as reaching out to some former staff, the airline was recruiting externally in line with demand for a “wide range of roles”.

“We’ve been getting great responses to our recruitment drives,” she said.

Vaccination against Covid-19 was no longer a job requirement, however some international destinations to which Qantas flew still made full vaccination a condition of entry.

Ms O’Toole was hopeful the process would give casual workers the opportunity to move into permanent roles, and she called for an end to cabin crew being employed under a range of different agreements.

“The government needs to keep their election promise of same job, same pay legislation so that crew working in the same uniform on the same planes are not being paid differently with different conditions,” she said.

Negotiations were continuing between the FAAA and Qantas over a new short-haul cabin crew agreement after talks broke down late last year, leading to a vote in favour of industrial action.

Despite support for stoppages, crew did not withdraw their labour over the busy summer holiday period, as the FAAA sought a better deal for members.

Qantas is expected to announce a half year profit of around $1.5bn next week after six months of enormous demand and skyrocketing airfares.

The figure would represent a massive turnaround for the airline which posted a full year loss of almost $1.9bn in 2022.

Since July 2022, Qantas’s share price has climbed over 50 per cent from $4.25 to $6.49 a share.

Originally published as Qantas asks former crew to return to help keep pace with demand for travel