Qantas Short Haul EA Update No 30
Award Amended to reflect AFAP Settlement on First Officers Under Training (FOT)
The AFAP has secured an important industry-wide outcome for pilots, following our successful resolution of the First Officer under Training (FOT) issue in the Qantas Short Haul Enterprise Agreement 2024 (SHEA9).
Last week the Fair Work Commission (FWC) amended the Air Pilots Award 2020 (Pilots Award) to reflect the settlement reached between the AFAP and Qantas in relation to the rates of pay for FOTs) under SHEA9. A copy of the FWC decision is attached – here.
This is a significant win. It confirms that every pilot, including FOTs and Second Officers Under Training (SOTs), is now unequivocally covered by the Pilots Award. No employer can pay a pilot below the applicable Award minimum, and these Award rates will form the relevant safety net for all future enterprise agreement BOOT assessments.
Background
Prior to SHEA9 going to vote, the AFAP wrote to Qantas concerned that the newly created FOT position provided a salary below the minimum salary for a first officer under the Pilots Award. SHEA9 provided a FOT salary equivalent to approximately $80,000 until “cleared to line” whereas the minimum annual salary rate for a B737 or A320 First Officer under the Pilots Award is over $120,000.
The AFAP raised this concern at the SHEA9 approval hearing along with a concern over the dispute resolution clause not allowing for unions to raise issues in their own name. In the initial approval hearing, the FWC found that the dispute resolution clause required an undertaking from Qantas however in relation to the FOT salary the FWC initially determined:
[103] For the reasons given, I conclude that FOTs are not First Officers within the meaning of the Pilots Award, and they are not covered by the Pilots Award. I consider that employees in a classification equivalent to that of FOT inadvertently fell out of coverage of awards governing pilots when the Air Pilots Award 2010 was made in 2009 and the previous enterprise awards ceased to operate. This may provide an appropriate basis to consider (in other proceedings) whether the Pilots Award should be amended to include a FOT type classification.
The AFAP appealed this decision however an agreed settlement was reached with Qantas prior to the matter proceeding to a hearing. On 1 September 2025 we wrote to advise all members that “…Qantas has agreed that any FOTs employed under SHEA9 will be paid no less than the First Officer base rate in the Pilots Award and the AFAP will now withdraw our appeal regarding SHEA9”.
As part of the settlement, it was agreed that the AFAP would apply to vary the Pilots Award such that the classification of “first officer” under the Pilots Award includes “a pilot who is initially employed by the employer to undertake initial training for a first officer position”. It was also agreed that a second officer under training (SOT) classification and salary rate be incorporated into the Pilots Award. SOTs have a very long and different industrial history at Qantas. In light of this, it was agreed that the SOT rate in the Pilots Award should be based on the SOT rates established over many LH EAs and the predecessor Qantas Award.
What this means for pilots
The settlement reached with Qantas and the subsequent variation to the Pilots Award made last week in accordance with that settlement means:
- All pilots including FOTS and SOTs are unequivocally covered by the Pilots Award;
- No employer can pay a FOT less than the minimum first officer rate in the Pilots Award;
- The FOT and SOT rates in the Air Pilots Award will be used for all future BOOT tests, for all employers; and
- All other Pilots Award provisions regarding work rules, rostering, 6 weeks annual leave, pilot indemnity etc will have application to all pilots, including FOTs and SOTs.
This is a constructive resolution that simultaneously ensured the continued operation of SHEA9 and industry protection for all pilots into the future.
If you have any questions regarding this or any other matter please contact the QPC representatives below (qpc@afap.org.au) or the AFAP legal and industrial team of Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Pat Larkins (patrick@afap.org.au), Senior Legal/Industrial Officer Deanna Cain (deanna@afap.org.au), and Executive Director Simon Lutton (simon@afap.org.au).
Regards,
AFAP Qantas Pilot Council
Michael Egan – Chair
Mark Gilmour – Vice- Chair
Rob Close – Secretary
Michael Armessen – Committee Member
David LaPorte – Committee Member
Josh Chalmers – Committee Member
Rob Gilmour – Committee Member