Australia's Qantas says rolling engineer strikes not expected to disrupt flights
Sept 26 (Reuters) -Australia's Qantas Airways QAN.AX said rolling aircraft maintenance engineer strikes that began on Thursday in Melbourne and are set to continue for two weeks across the country are not expected to disrupt flights.
"We're putting contingencies in place and don't currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers," a Qantas spokesperson said.
The Qantas Engineers' Alliance, made up of several unions, said on Thursday it wants a 5% annual pay rise and a 15% first-year payment "to make up for 3.5 years of wage freezes".
The alliance said the industrial action was likely to affect Qantas flights in all major locations. It did not respond immediately to a request for further comment.
Australia's flag carrier has been trying to fix its reputation following a series of controversies regarding travel bookings and employee treatment that alienated travellers, employees and shareholders in the COVID-19 era and beyond.
About 1,100 employees out of 2,500 engineers across Qantas are covered by the enterprise agreements under discussion that expired at the end of June 2024, Qantas said.
The airline said it had made progress on a number of items with unions.
"We want to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and ensures we have a sustainable business," the spokesperson said.
Qantas in August reported an annual underlying pre-tax profit of A$2.08 billion ($1.41 billion), down 16% from the prior year.
On the day of its results it announced an in-principle agreement on pay increases for around 2,500 international cabin crew and agreed to three applications by the flight attendants' union to raise pay for up to 800 short-haul staff.
Reporting by Lisa Barrington in Seoul; Editing by Jamie Freed
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
