Regional airline passengers could be in for more pain, with striking pilots at a Qantas subsidiary set to consider further industrial action.

February 15, 2024

A six-day pilot’s strike causing headaches for thousands of regional passengers and fly-in, fly-out workers could be extended.

More than 200 Network Aviation and QantasLink pilots in Western Australia walked off the job on Wednesday over stalled wage negotiations, forcing the cancellation of dozens of flights.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots says its members do not want to hurt the travelling public but they are fed up with the Qantas subsidiary’s management, who they accuse of refusing to bargain.

The federation’s senior industrial officer Chris Aikens said if the Qantas Group didn’t return to the negotiation table, the pilots could “potentially” escalate their industrial action.

“It’s pretty clear they are squeezing Network pilots to breaking point and the Network pilots have now broken and they’re very, very angry,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“For the time being six days is a significant impact.”

He said the pilots, who aren’t being paid while they are on strike, would meet with the federation on Friday to discuss extending the action or returning to work.

“The pilots are hurting as well and we don’t want to do this,” he said.

“But when you run out of options, what do you do?”

Mr Aikens said the parties had been close to a deal but Qantas Group had refused to budge on extending basic conditions to Network Aviation pilots, that other pilots working for the airline receive.

“They are hurting because they’re being treated like second-class citizens by the Qantas management,” he said.

“These pilots, as I said before, have not had a pay rise since 2019 and the intervening years have had some of the highest periods of inflation that we’ve experienced for generations.”

The pilots federation and Network Aviation have been attempting to forge a pay deal for 18 months to replace the previous one which expired in 2020.

Network Aviation said the pilots had previously been offered and rejected pay increases of more than 25 per cent, plus yearly three per cent increases, new allowances and greater roster protections.

The union has rejected the assertions.

The protected action comes a week after pilots walked off the job for 24 hours on Thursday, sparking the cancellation of 35 Network Aviation flights.

It’s the third time regional travellers flying on Network Aviation have been impacted by the ongoing dispute, which has forced resource companies to use other carriers to get their workers to and from mine sites.

Network Aviation has applied to the Fair Work Commission for a hearing to determine whether the parties have reached a stage where an outcome cannot be negotiated.

It’s the first step in a process in the airline’s bid to break the deadlock that could see the wages arbiter determine a new agreement for the pilots.

Network Aviation pilots also walked off the job over pay negotiations for 24 hours in early October, causing more than 40 flights to and from regional towns and mine sites to be cancelled.

The airline, which is wholly owned by Qantas, is WA’s premier charter company for the mining industry and operates hundreds of flights a week.

More than 90 per cent of its 250-plus pilots are members of the pilots federation.