Virgin Australia has stated intention to hire workers being made redundant by rival airline Qantas.

Virgin Group executives say their newly-invigorated airline is committed to its Australian roots and delivering the best travel experience - and that means hiring as many highly-trained Australian workers as possible.

The Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents Qantas staff, congratulated Virgin for the company's stated intention.

AIPA President Captain Barry Jackson, a Qantas pilot for 24 years, said although he was happy Virgin Australia was recognising the quality and value of Australian pilots and other aviation staff, it was sad to see the company picking up where Qantas was leaving off.

“Qantas has enjoyed an enormous natural advantage over Virgin when it comes to reputation and Australian identity,” Capt. Jackson said.

“Yet the way things are going under these two CEOs, things could turn around very, very quickly.

“The boss at Virgin, John Borghetti, is looking like a visionary, while the boss at Qantas, Alan Joyce, is looking like Sol Trujillo. It’s a really sad situation for Australians who love the Flying Kangaroo.

“As the recent mutually-beneficial agreement brokered between Virgin and the Virgin pilots union (VIPA) indicates, John Borghetti is an airline CEO who genuinely understands the benefit of Australian staff and the quality they can deliver to his airline.

AIPA said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, on the other hand, is committed to a plan which would see a new, unnamed 'premium' airline set up in Asia to which Qantas operations would gradually shift to take advantage of lower mandated standards and conditions.