Aaron Bunch Journalist with Australian Associated Press | Collection of published work | + 61 484 008 119 | abunch@aap.com.au
Pilot strike threat at Qantas subsidiary averted
Pilots at a WA-based Qantas subsidiary have suspended plans to strike and agreed to resume negotiations over pay and conditions.
October 31, 2023
Hundreds of Qantas pilots will resume wage negotiations after calling off strike action that could have impacted thousands of regional travellers and FIFO workers.
Network Aviation pilots had planned to stop work on Wednesday and Thursday after attempts to reach an agreement over wages and conditions faltered.
But the industrial action was suspended on Tuesday after they agreed to support further pay negotiations following a meeting with the Fair Work Commission.
The bargaining sessions, which will be mediated by the wage arbitrator, are scheduled for next Tuesday and could run for four days.
Network Aviation pilots walked off the job for 24 hours in early October causing more than 40 flights to and from regional towns and mine sites to be cancelled.
The Australian Federation of Pilots said at the time negotiations with the company had failed and pilots wanted a significant pay rise to bring them up to the legal minimum under the award.
Qantas has previously accused the union of bad-faith bargaining, saying the protected industrial action that was proposed for later this week was unreasonable.
Network Aviation, which is wholly owned by Qantas, is Western Australia’s premier charter company for the mining industry.
More than 90 per cent of its pilots, a total of 211, are members of the pilots federation.
It also flies private charters and emergency freight to and from WA, and operates hundreds of flights per week.