Rex Granted Labour Agreement

Regional Express (Rex) is pleased to announce that it has been granted a five-year Labour Agreement (LA) by the Department of Home Affairs on November 5, 2019.

The LA will allow the Rex Group to recruit overseas Pilots, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers and Flight Instructors who satisfy prescribed conditions under the Temporary Skills Shortage visa (TSS) subclass 482. These professionals will be allowed to work anywhere on Rex's network and may apply for permanent residency after three years.

Rex commends the Department of Home Affairs for putting in place this scheme which will go a long way towards addressing the critical skills shortage of Pilots, Aircraft Maintenance Engineers and Flight Instructors that has severely impacted the Rex Group and the whole aviation industry in Australia over recent years.

Rex Deputy Chairman, The Hon. John Sharp AM, said, "I would like to thank the Hon. David Coleman MP for understanding the predicament the Rex Group is in and for his assistance in ensuring that the LA was ratified in good time."

"The Rex Group will continue its search for skilled workers in Australia and is 100% committed to supporting local employment by ensuring that the employment of Australian workers will take precedence over skilled workers from overseas. For example, Rex has gone to extraordinary lengths to overcome the critical shortage of pilots by establishing a pilot academy over 10 years ago to train local cadets to be airline pilots with Rex - something which even Qantas or Virgin Australia has not done to this day."

"The Rex Group is confident the LA will provide much needed assistance in helping us fill up our establishment for Pilots and Engineers so that we can continue to provide regular, reliable and affordable air services to regional and remote communities throughout our vast Regular Public Transport (RPT) network in every State in Australia."

"The LA also allows accessibility to more Flight Instructors and this will bolster our capability to produce more pilots at our state-of-the-art pilot academy, the Australian Airline Pilot Academy (AAPA), based in Wagga Wagga, NSW, thereby perpetuating the cycle of pilots to meet the needs of the Rex Group and the broader aviation industry in Australia."