MSA Case Study
Qantas attracts women
into key trade areas
Qantas is Australia’s largest airline and the world’s
oldest continuously operating airline. Today the Qantas
Group operates a fleet of 246 aircraft and employs
approximately 35,000 people across a network
spanning 173 destinations in 42 countries (including
those covered by codeshare partners) in Australia, Asia
and the Pacific, the Americas, Europe and Africa.
to build their support base – Qantas is establishing an
intranet based mechanism to provide ongoing access to
support and female workers have regular social events.
•Promoting the benefits of employment is important to
demonstrate the lifestyle advantages. Qantas offers
job security, extensive training and advancement
opportunities, rotational shifts and variety for its
apprentices.
The Qantas Group operates one of the largest aircraft
engineering and maintenance organisations in the AsiaPacific region. With advanced technical training facilities,
Qantas is one of the few airlines with its own industry
training program that includes apprentices and advanced
technical training for engineers.
The key challenge
Qantas has an extensive apprenticeship program, with
an average of 100 apprentices taken on each year, but
attracting female applicants and then retaining them for the
duration has presented an ongoing challenge. Women have
proved to be valuable assets to Qantas with extensive skills
and strengths which add new perspectives and create a
more balanced workplace culture. However the reality of
trade work being male dominated, together with family
pressures and often misconceptions about the work, often
result in women leaving their training before completing.
Qantas is committed to encouraging women to be a
part of its engineering and maintenance division and is
incorporating a range of strategies to achieve better results
in this area.
Strategies that work
Qantas have found a range of strategies are helpful for
supporting women in trade work:
•Recruitment interviews need to clearly outline the work
and work environment so that expectations match reality.
•Regular mentoring sessions with other, more experienced
women are invaluable for providing personal and
professional support. Qantas has a number of women in
technical and management positions who participate in
mentoring and training sessions.
•Facilitating networking between women employees helps
Women team up at Qantas
Success stories
Qantas currently has 20 female apprentices and is
having excellent feedback on the development program.
Vehicle painting apprentice Bianca Velluci began her
apprenticeship in 2008 and is finding her work life more
than meets her expectations. Building on a fascination for
aircraft and a desire to do something different, Bianca says
that the variety at work means she is always learning and
she enjoys the mental challenge of problem solving in her
work. Bianca is the only female in her area but says that the
work environment is very comfortable and she enjoys the
company of working with men. Her favourite part is seeing
the finished product after 21 or so days painting an entire
aircraft. Bianca says she would encourage women to step
forward into trade areas – ‘the people are great and there
are lots of opportunities’ she says.
Manufacturing Skills Australia
PO Box 289
North Sydney 2059
T +612 9955 5500
F +612 9955 8044
info@mskills.com.au
1800 358 458
www.mskills.com.au