Australian air travel problems

Travellers to and from Australia should be aware of serious domestic air travel problems, the result of a breakdown of negotiation between Qantas management and the Union representing maintenance engineers.  The dispute has become particularly difficult with both sides (being Australia) using colourful language.

It is expected that for the next month up to 400 domestic services will be cancelled affecting 60,000 passengers.  Government intervention could require the parties to resolve their issues under the umbrella of the Fair Work Act.

“The co-ordinated attacks on Qantas and our passengers from the pilots’ union, the licensed engineers’ union and the Transport Workers’ Union are continuing to impact the business and our passengers,” said Qantas spokeswomen Olivia Wirth.  “The biggest impact on Qantas and our passengers comes from the overtime bans and ‘go slow’ on work, which have caused the backlog of maintenance.”

Union spokesman Peter Somerville said the airline was shifting the blame following Friday's cancellation of any further strike action until after the Qantas AGM on 28 October. 

Earlier this month, the argument turned violent, with racist threatening letters sent to Qantas chief Alan Joyce and other management, while the cars and homes of staff were damaged after they refused to strike. www.qantas.com

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