The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) is accusing Jetstar of compromising safety by employing cadet pilots on low salaries.

Jetstar has employed four cadets on contracts that require them to pay back their training costs and include financial penalties if they exit the agreement prematurely.

The AIPA says the conditions put unfair financial pressures on the cadets and are not conducive to training good pilots.

It claims the cadets will be paid AU$57,000 a year, with no pay rise for six years.

President Barry Jackson says there is also a concern the cadet pilots are flying without enough experience.

"Qantas pilots for example need 1,000 hours before they become a first officer, yet in the same group we have pilots with as little as 180 hours sitting in the flight deck of those airplanes," he said.

But Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway denies claims inexperienced cadets are co-piloting passenger jets on flights within Australia.

He says trainees are paid a base salary of AU$57,000 a year and already have a lot of experience.

"The training itself would see them have over 1,000 hours of experience and they will need to meet the standard like any other pilot that enters our organisation, be it from outside, or through other airlines," he said.

"The initial cadets that are now flying in Australian skies have a high number of hours, are experienced pilots and in many cases have thousands of hours of experience.

"They've just used the cadet program to enter our airline."

Mr Westaway says the pilots will be given the opportunity to earn more money if they fly more hours.

"The way our rosters work, and we've only just recently put these pilots into our organisation, is that they will operate around 850 hours," he said.

"Indeed it will be more than 850 hours and on 850 hours their take-home salary on an annual basis is around AU$90,000."

Mr Jackson claims the cadets will be forced to pay back Jetstar up to AU$80,000 for training costs.

He says the four cadet pilots have been employed outside of the Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA).

"We'd obviously be asking FairWork Australia to have a look at this," he said.

"Why would you have part-time pilots on part-time contracts when there is an agreed EBA already in place?"