A flight attendant-turned FIFO worker has explained how she earns $3,200 a week after tax in Australia’s mines, but also revealed a sleazy downside.
Megan Meeke, an ex-Virgin fight attendant, bumped up her weekly pay by more than 30 per cent after taking a simple eight hour training course online which gave her more registered skills to use on job sites.
She warned that it’s far from easy money though, describing how she often has to work up to 77 hours a week – not to mention dealing with offensive comments from male colleagues.
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<img id="i-43532c01e4ab305b" website height="792" width="634" alt="Megan Meeke (pictured) did training
Megan Meeke, 27, a former Virgin flight attendant, makes $3,200 a week after tax from her FIFO work in Western Australia’s Pilbara mining region
Ms Meeke (pictured) did training for three new tickets to get a job as a trade assistant: working in confined spaces, working at heights and a gas testing atmospheres ticket
A typical day starts at 3.30am if she’s working 4am to 4pm, or 4.30am – which is a sleep-in – for the 5am to 5pm shift.
While most Australians are still getting their last couple of hours’ of sleep, Ms Meeke is on site early for a pre-work safety briefing.
Everyone gets an hour lunch break plus two other 20 minute breaks a day.
After her 12 hour shift, it’s home for a shower, then dinner in the dry mess and if she has the energy, a drink with co-workers in the tavern.
‘Or go to my room and pass out because I’m so tired, I try and Mantap168 sleep by 9pm.’
But she pointed out she can save far more than she would on the same hourly rate in a city job because everything is paid for.
‘When you are up on site for those two weeks, everything is paid for – accommodation (called ‘dongas’), all your food, drinks, snacks – everything.
‘They also have games nights, bingo, gyms, pools, everything you could need to be honest!And it’s all free. Not that I’ve been to the gym yet I’m always too tired from the day.’
Her roster, known as a ‘swing’, involves her doing 14 days straight before she gets a day off.
The former Virgin air hostess came to Australia in 2019 and tried several jobs to support her travels before settling on fly-in-fly-out mining work
At least once a month, she hops on a plane to explore another part of Australia or party in glamorous resort locations such as the Maldives, Dubai , Thailand and Bali
Then at least once a month, she hops on a plane to explore another part of Australia or party in glamorous resort locations such as the Maldives, , and Bali.
‘It is definitely a tiring job but also an amazing lifestyle if you are someone that wants to travel the world and earn amazing money,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox news" data-version="2" id="mol-4b6b2e70-08bd-11ed-894d-d75c2b7eed1f" website worker earns $3200 a week after taking a short online course