Rex is setting the record straight with regard to an inaccurate article in a daily newspaper captioned “Rex seeking to employ overseas pilots to fly domestic routes”.
All pilots and flight attendants employed for Rex’s new Domestic Operation are former employees from Virgin, Tiger and Qantas, all of whom were made redundant or who resigned of their own volition to join Rex. Rex is not seeking to employ foreign pilots for its domestic operations, nor is it entitled to do so under the conditions of a Labour Agreement (LA) entered into with the Commonwealth in 2019.
Rex also does not have any foreign pilots in its Regional operation even though its LA provides a pathway for the employment of foreign pilots if there are no suitable candidates in Australia possessing the required skill set.
Rex will continue to recruit only within Australia seeking those with the necessary requisites and skill sets to join the new Domestic operation and augment the existing Regional operation. Rex is embarking on a venture that will create jobs in Australia and benefit the travelling public, by creating more competition, more choice and lower prices for passengers. We are one of the rare airlines in the world that is employing more people.
If any airline should get credit for recruiting and training Australian pilots, it is Rex. Rex, unlike the two major domestic carriers, has invested heavily in pilot training academies, in Wagga Wagga and Ballarat, and a cadet program that provides young Australians a chance to develop a good career in aviation.
