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Qantas is set to invest more than $40 million in skills and training programs, including a new “safety academy” in partnership with RMIT and Griffith University.
Slated to launch next year, the academy – billed as the first of its kind in Australia – will be open both online and on RMIT’s campus, and will include areas such as safety culture, risk management, and human safety factors such as sleep and fatigue.
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The Flying Kangaroo is also planning to open new ground training facilities in Perth next year and Sydney in 2026, with the Sydney site – based at Qantas’ campus in Mascot – to train more than 5,000 Qantas Group pilots and cabin crew every year.
The Sydney facility will house new and existing Qantas training equipment, including door trainers, a new narrow-body cabin trainer, virtual reality training gear, and extra classrooms.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson said safety and training have been “part of Qantas’ DNA since our first flight back in 1922”.
“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,” she said.
“Our multi-million-dollar training investment means there will be new facilities and state-of-the-art equipment across Australia to train our current pilots and cabin crew, as well as the thousands of crew expected to join the Qantas Group over the next decade.
“The new Qantas Group Safety Academy will help upskill a generation of safety and risk professionals, leaning on Qantas’s century of practical experience with safety leadership and the academic expertise of RMIT and Griffith University.”
According to RMIT Aviation Academy director Lea Vesic, the safety academy builds on existing RMIT aviation education and training programs.
“RMIT’s partnership with Qantas is a testament to the quality of our training and leadership – not just in producing job-ready graduates but fostering collaboration across the sector,” she said.
“The new Qantas Safety Academy will utilise our training expertise to build a pipeline of safety leaders who have a broad set of critical skills.
“These types of industry partnerships – and innovative training delivery – will be even more critical as we look to futureproof the aviation industry in Australia.”
Qantas is also doubling its Toowoomba pilot academy scholarship program, with up to 20 $30,000 scholarships to be available in 2025 for female and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
“As we train the next generation of pilots, we want to make sure that we’re reaching a broader and more diverse talent base which is why we’re expanding our scholarship program for the Qantas Group Pilot Academy,” Hudson said.
