Western Australian Pilots who are members of the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) flying domestically for fully owned Qantas (ASX:QAN) subsidiary Network Aviation have begun the first of 6 rolling 24-hour work stoppages.
A further 3 days have been added to ongoing protected industrial action (PIA), which will see the pilots now stop work for 6 consecutive days starting yesterday (14 February 2024) to 19 February.
AFAP Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens says Qantas management walking away from negotiations and, last week, taking previously agreed items off the bargaining table has led to the increase in PIA.
“Qantas can readily resolve this by recognising that Network pilots are only seeking to achieve terms and conditions of employment that are commonplace amongst the Qantas pilots and the airline industry overall.”
Network Aviation currently has no arrivals or departures scheduled for today (15 February 2024). According to Perth Airport, up to 23 Qantas flights destined for regional Western Australia have been cancelled today.
The 7 terms and conditions that the pilots have put to the company include a 2-hour (not 90 minute) sign-on form reserve (as is common in the industry and in compliance with the Air Pilots Award 2020, as well as a 6am (not 4am) start after a day off as for pilots at other Qantas/QantasLink operations.
Other terms include duty free travel in a business class seat to improve the opportunity for rest and fatigue management, same duty hours allowance as other pilots across other Qantas operations, increased overtime, 10 rostered days off, and a revised rostering appendix.
Aikens says: “We are dealing with an employer who steadfastly refuses to provide terms and conditions of employment enjoyed by other Qantas Group pilots across the country to Network pilots in WA. We are seeing Qantas at its worst showing total disdain for its pilots and the travelling public. Our members deeply regret having to take this protected industrial action but are left with no other option. The enterprise agreement expired in 2020 and pilots had their last pay rise in 2019.
To be clear, the company’s much-touted offer of a 25% pay increase would not be applied to all the pilots. It would simply bring the lowest paid among the pilot group up to the Air Pilots Award, which is just the legal minimum standard. We have been negotiating in good faith for at least 18 months but the company continues to be inflexible.
We remain keen and willing to meet with the company’s management to arrive at some improvements in terms and conditions for the lowest paid jet pilots in the Qantas Group. Network Aviation pilots in Western Australia fly the same aircraft on similar routes and just want to be treated like other Qantas pilots.”
Members of the AFAP make up 90% of the more than 250 pilots employed by Network Aviation and are eligible to take part in the lawful PIA approved by the Fair Work Commission last year (2023).
The pilots fly jet aircraft for QantasLink (passenger transport) and Network Aviation (charter contracts), which are used to ferry fly in, fly out (FIFO) workers to and from mines across the state.
As reported by Mining.com.au, on 5 February, AFAP served the Qantas subsidiary notice of a 24-hour stoppage of all work from 8 February 2024, due to stalled wage negotiations as a result of the expiration of the Network Aviation Pilots Enterprise Agreement 2016 on 31 October 2020.
With 5,500 members, the AFAP is the largest professional association and industrial organisation for commercial pilots and Australia.
Network aviation is a Western Australian-based company that has provided air charter services since 1998.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Network Aviation
