Qantas, the Australian flag carrier, has unveiled plans to launch two training academies from 2025 onwards, as well as scholarship schemes for women and Aboriginal people. A growing demand for pilots, cabin crew and ground staff has led to Qantas investing over $40 million in training schemes across Australia. This is in regard to their 10 year plan to expand their fleet and staff.
Group Safety Academy
In partnership with Griffith University and RMIT University, the Qantas Group will provide educational schemes on various aviation safety topics. These include risk and data management, cyber safety, and human safety (such as sleep and fatigue management). Additionally, Qantas will provide certificates of qualification after these courses are completed, aiding in employability of those in the aviation sector. Able to be taken online or in person, these courses are set to begin in 2025. Partnering with universities is not the only connection the Qantas Group have made, recently announcing a partnership with the Australian Red Cross.
Ground Training Facility
Due to open mid-2026, a state of the art ground training academy is also being constructed in Sydney. The facility will be dedicated to emergency procedure training for more than 5000 Qantas Group pilots and cabin crew. Virtual reality training spaces, classrooms and door trainers are just a few of the training equipment that will be employed on this site.
Vanessa Hudson, CEO of Qantas Group commented:
“Our people have been long renowned for their high standards of safety and training and this is the foundation of the investment we’re making in the future of Australian aviation and other industries.”
Women in Aviation
As well as Qantas implementing these two new training academies, they are also doubling their number of scholarships for women and Aboriginal people. The Qantas Group will be offering 20 fully funded pilot training scholarships from 2025. Since this scheme began in 2020, 400 students have graduated from the Academy to become pilots, with women representing 20% of these graduates. Surprisingly, women make up only 4% of commercial pilots globally (source: International Civil Aviation Authority), whilst at Qantas, they make up 7%. In the future, they are striving to raise this figure with these scholarships.
