Qantas grounds fleet over labor dispute
By Saga McFarland, Cable News Network, 1832 HKT, 29 October 2011
Australian airline Qantas (澳洲航空) grounded all its aircraft Saturday in response to a labor dispute, in a step that will disrupt travel for thousands of people.
Flights in the air will complete those journeys, the airline said in a statement, but there will be no further domestic or international departures worldwide.
The industrial action involves three unions representing air and ground staff. Qantas, the flag carrier for Australia and its largest domestic and international airline, said that all employees involved in the strike would be locked out from Monday evening .
"Pilots, licensed engineers and baggage, ground and catering staff are essential to Qantas operations and the lock-out will therefore make it necessary for all Qantas aircraft to be grounded," the airline said.
Qantas said the ongoing dispute with staff had affected more than 70,000 passengers and cost it about 15 million Australian dollars ($16 million) a week in lost revenue.
Speaking at a news conference in Sydney, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce (澳洲航空行政總裁喬伊斯) said it was a hard decision to ground the fleet but that the airline had been left with no alternative in the face of the unions' "extreme claim."
Staff involved in the industrial action will be locked-out for as long as it takes, he said, and the unions "will have to decide how badly they want to damage Qantas."
Grounding its fleet will have a daily financial impact of about 20 million Australian dollars ($21.4 million), Qantas said.
Customers booked on Qantas flights should not go to the airport until further notice, the airline said. It will offer travelers full refunds or the chance to rebook.
Flights with subsidiaries Jetstar and QantasLink, as well as Qantas flights across the Tasman Sea operated by Jetconnect, are not affected by the grounding, Qantas said.
The Transport Workers Union of Australia, one of those involved in the industrial action, accused Qantas management of "untruths and subterfuge" in its dealings with staff, in a statement earlier this week.
The airline plans to outsource ground jobs, the union says, at a cost of thousands of Australian jobs.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers union (ALAEA) accused Qantas of lying to the media and putting profits first, in a statement on its website earlier this month.
It said the union's industrial action was aimed at ensuring Qantas "will have less money to set up the overseas operations that will cannibalise Qantas routes and our job security."
Qantas, which has its headquarters in Sydney, is the second oldest airline in the world, having marked the 90th anniversary of its foundation last year.
It employs about 32,500 people and flies to more than 180 destinations worldwide, according to the company website. For the financial year ending June 2010, it made a post-tax profit of 116 million Australian dollars.
© Cable News Network 2011