Pilot jobs at Virgin Australia and V Australia have become some of the most lucrative in the region, following the agreement of a 28 per cent pay rise with the pilot union.
The new rise took almost two years to negotiate, but the pilots' union, the Virgin Independent Pilot Association (VIPA), said that the new agreement offers significant improvement over the common law contracts members were under.
VIPA's executive director, Simon O'Hara, said that they were optimistic that the new deal marked the beginning of a "mature approach to organizational and cultural change" at Virgin regarding industrial relations issues with pilots.
"VIPA acknowledges that this good result would not have occurred if not for the imprimatur of the CEO, Mr John Borghetti," Mr O'Hara said. "There is no doubt that Mr Borghetti's arrival ushered in a new era of industrial relations within the Virgin Australia Group."
The agreement is to be voted on by VIPA members, which is the largest union group in Virgin Australia, within the next two weeks.
As well as the pay rise, the deal has set out a comprehensive system for consultation between management and pilots, the introduction of a credit system that measures overtime and work performed and a new insurance system for pilots.