The Qantas Group announced that it will invest more than AUD 40 million ($27 million) in a range of new initiatives to accelerate skills development and train the next generation of Australian aviation talent.
The group said that it has partnered with Griffith University and RMIT University to establish Australia’s first safety academy.
The airline said the academy, which will open in 2025, will offer safety education credentials designed to upskill safety professionals and develop safety leaders across all industries.
Courses can be taken online with either the university or on campus at RMIT University, and students can apply for the courses to be used as credit for other relevant postgraduate qualifications.
Samples of micro-credentials offered at the academy include safety culture, risk management, data management, cyber safety, and human safety factors, including sleep and fatigue management.
New ground training facility in Sydney and Perth
Qantas also said that in mid-2026, it plans to open a new Sydney Ground Training Facility based on its Mascot campus. This facility will be a dedicated site to train over 5,000 Qantas, Jetstar, and QantasLink pilots and cabin crew in emergency procedures annually.
The facility will house new and existing training equipment, including door trainers, virtual reality training spaces, a new narrow-body cabin trainer, and additional classrooms.
A new dedicated ground training facility will also be opened in Perth from mid-2025. New emergency procedure training equipment will be housed in existing training facilities in Brisbane (to support QantasLink A220 and Qantas A321XLR growth) and in Melbourne (to support Jetstar, Qantas, Qantas Freight and QantasLink training).
Investing in pilots from diverse backgrounds
The Group said it plans to double the number of scholarships for female students and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in 2025 to attend the pilot academy in Toowoomba, offering 20 scholarships.
Since opening in 2020, more than 400 students have graduated from Qantas’ pilot academy to join the airline and the broader aviation industry, with women representing 20% of graduates.
“Safety and training have been part of Qantas’ DNA since our first flight back in 1922,” Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said in a statement. “With a historic fleet renewal program underway, we have more than a hundred new aircraft on order for Qantas and Jetstar that each represent a growth opportunity for our people and the broader industry.”
“Our people have been long renowned for their high standards of safety and training.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 added.