Budget airline Jetstar has come under fire across the Tasman for letting trainee pilots with as little as 200 hours fly its A320s.
Sydney newspaper Daily Telegraph reported the pilots are flying the passenger services between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Australian and International Pilots Association vice-president Richard Woodward said: "Two hundred hours is less experience than the average P-plater on our roads has."
According to the Telegraph pilots are employed on part-time contracts with a guaranteed annual salary of AUD$57,600 (NZ$78,183) and do not get a pay increase for six years.
They have to pay the airline AUD10,500 (NZ$14,253) a year for on-the-job training. And if they resign before completing six years of service they have to cough up almost as much.
Most cannot legally fly to New Zealand as law here demands commercial pilots have 500 hours in their log books.
The association has long urged a review of Australian pilot training and experience minimums.
