Qantas

Next steps for RAL pilots

Thank you to those members who were able to attend one or both of our meetings yesterday. As advised in that meeting, we wish to provide some information on available options for pilots who have been made redundant from Rex Airlines Pty Ltd. Our goal is to get the best outcome for every member, whether that means finding new employment, redeployment elsewhere in the Rex Group, getting financial support during time out of work, or even enjoying an early retirement. No matter what option(s) you choose, it is essential that you gain access to all available entitlements from your time at RAL.

Finding New Employment

The very good news is that you are all highly skilled, qualified and experienced 737 pilots – an extremely desirable commodity in today’s aviation market. Within less than 12 hours of the Rex Group entering voluntary administration and announcing the end of Rex Airlines 737 services, the AFAP had received messages from Virgin and the Qantas group, providing specialised links for RAL pilots to express interest in employment. These links are provided below. By providing these links, we do not specifically endorse any particular potential employer. However, over the course of discussions at AFAP Executive, representatives from Councils at each of these employers have confirmed that their employers are keen to recruit Rex pilots, and commended their employers to you:

Virgin - https://careers.virginaustralia.com/en/job/508442/rex-expressions-of-interest-for-virgin-australia
Qantas - https://qantas.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Qantas_Careers/job/Sydney/Expression-of-Interest---Rex-Airline-Employees_R99598
Jetstar - https://qantas.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/Jetstar_Careers/job/Sydney/Expression-of-Interest---Rex-Airline-Employees_R99598-26

The AFAP also maintains a jobs board (https://www.afap.org.au/pilot-jobs/). We acknowledge that currently, none of the jobs offered here are 737 pilot jobs, however we provide the link in the interests of presenting all available options.

Redeployment within the Rex Group

There are still several going concerns within the Rex Group, both in and out of Voluntary Administration, and we are aware of advertised vacancies and/or significant pilot shortages in all of them.

Rex (Saab RPT operation)

With bases in CNS, TSV, BNE, SYD, MEL, WGA, ABX, DBO, MEL, ADL and PER, this is obviously the largest and most wide-ranging remaining operation in the Rex group. However, Regional Express Holdings Ltd is in Voluntary Administration, and it is therefore entirely at the discretion of the Administrators as to whether to recruit pilots into this company. It is well known that Rex is suffering from a severe shortage of pilots (particularly Captains) in all bases except ADL, MEL and the NSW country bases. Pilots who meet the command requirements and have Saab type ratings would have a compelling case for seeking redeployment to Rex as a Direct Entry Command in one of those bases.

At this stage we believe it would be better to contact the Administrator directly to make such an application, and we encourage you to share a copy of such an email with James Mattner (james@afap.org.au) and/or Jared Marks (jared@afap.org.au). The AFAP Rex Council will be extremely interested in all responses to such applications, whether or not the Administrator agrees to redeploy you.

PelAir (B200 Air Ambulance)

PelAir is not one of the Rex Group companies under Voluntary Administration, so are not subject to the Administrator’s authority. We would suggest contacting PelAir directly if you are interested in a position in the air ambulance operation, which could be based in either MEL or SYD. Their jobs portal offers a registration of interest form http://careers.pelair.com.au/

National Jet Express (NJE)

NJE is also not under administration, and is not a wholly owned subsidiary of Rex. They are currently advertising PER-based vacancies on the E190 jet. We note the job advertisement is not currently on their website, but can be found at https://www.seek.com.au/job/77477335

Getting financial support

As all RAL pilots have been terminated with immediate effect, and with no wages or redundancy payments expected to be forthcoming from the Company, you may shortly be eligible for JobSeeker Payment. You may need to provide evidence of your termination accompanied by confirmation from the Administrator that they have no intention of paying your outstanding wages or redundancy. To apply for Jobseeker, you will need to contact Centrelink, best done online via MyGov (https://www.my.gov.au) or – if you do not have a MyGov account – at https://www.centrelink.gov.au. Once logged in to the Centrelink service, choose “Make a claim” under “Payments and claims”, then click “Make a claim” and under “Job Seekers” click “Get started”. The website will then guide you through the process of filing a claim for JobSeeker Payment.

Recovering your lost entitlements

No matter what of the above options you choose, you will need to prepare to recover your lost entitlements from RAL – this includes all outstanding wages and allowances (whether or not you had claimed them prior to your termination), as well as unused leave entitlements and your payment for being made redundant. To begin with, you should follow the instructions in the email sent out by the Administrator on Wednesday night, to register as a creditor of RAL, by submitting a “Proof of debt” form. This should list – to the best of your ability – all of the payments still due to you by RAL. You may submit this form more than once, with each form automatically superseding the previous one, so it doesn’t need to be perfect the first time. We suggest submitting at least a first iteration of this form no later than 1200 AEST on 7 August, to ensure you have access to the first meeting of creditors.

Regardless of the above, it is unlikely (based on advice from the Administrators) that RAL will have any funds from which to pay unsecured creditors – a category which includes former employees. Therefore, you are only likely to get any actual payment of your entitlements by accessing the Fair Entitlements Guarantee program, funded by the federal government. For information on eligibility and how to apply for the FEG program, please visit https://www.dewr.gov.au/fair-entitlements-guarantee/eligibility-and-how-apply-assistance-through-fair-entitlements-guarantee

You should commence this process as soon as possible, but no more than 12 months after your date of termination.

We will continue to provide updates on the above matters to affected pilots. Depending on developments over the coming weeks, we may also arrange additional meetings with members, as we believe the opportunity to discuss things with your peers and your AFAP Rex Council representatives is very important.

In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to any of your council representatives.

Your AFAP Rex Council