A survey by three pilot unions (AFAP, AIPA and TWU) of Qantas pilots who’d be affected by the airline’s potential base closures in Canberra and Hobart has shown 68% would look for alternative employment if the proposal went ahead, with a further 25% undecided.
One in five has already experienced a base closure and had to relocate, and this potential action from Qantas comes less than a year after the airline endorsed movements of pilots to any base of their choice on the premise that all bases would continue operating. Base closures would not only severely impact pilots and crew affected, but also the stability of regional QantasLink routes.
With current base structures, recent airline performance data shows QantasLink (which services regional areas) has the best on time arrival performance and a lower cancellation rate than the rest of the Qantas group, but this could be in jeopardy if the base closures were to go ahead.
Recently Qantas was handed down a record penalty of $90 million for illegally outsourcing its entire ground staff during the pandemic and was slammed by the Federal Court for its treatment of the workforce.
AFAP Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens said:
“This revised position from Qantas comes less than a year after the company had endorsed movements of pilots allowing transfers to any base of the pilot’s own choosing, on the premise that all bases would continue operating.
“This latest move shows that Qantas has continuing and complete disregard for pilots and the impact of such decisions on the pilots’ families.”