QPC Briefing No 18 2025 - LH EA Update
EA11 has now been in negotiation for over 18 months. Importantly, the surge of serious inflation in Australia began during the life of EA10, eroding real wages throughout that agreement. Since then, cost-of-living pressures have only intensified, and spikes again in July 2025 highlight the unpredictability of inflation pressure pilots are experiencing.
Throughout this period, Qantas has pursued wage freezes and constrained outcomes for its pilots, despite the fact that pilots helped carry the airline through the pandemic by sacrificing pay. Many endured stand-downs, quarantines, and disrupted rosters to ensure Qantas could survive. At the same time, Qantas has increased ticket prices for consumers and pointed to wage growth as the reason for those price rises.
Qantas is no longer a company in recovery. The Group has just delivered $2.39 billion in profit and paid $800 million in dividends to shareholders. Yet the Company still clings to its wage freeze policy, despite consecutive years of high profitability. Hiding behind “recovery” as justification is not only no longer credible, it is insulting, and completely at odds with Qantas’ claim of wanting to reset industrial relations.
In the last 3 financial years the Company has returned a total profit of $6.94 billion, with profits exceeding $2 billion in each of those years. Meanwhile the Company also announced further share buybacks, and awarded its former CEO a single bonus that far exceeds the collective cost of closing the shortfall in the Company’s current proposals to pilots.
This is the backdrop against which we now assess Qantas’ offers.
The Company’s refusal to properly value pilot reforms is not about affordability, it is about choice. Qantas is rewarding shareholders and investing billions in fleet renewal; it must also recognise the value of its Pilots.
Pilots are not asking for more than fair value.
Where Things Stand
Last week Qantas presented the AFAP with two pay table options. Both fail to meet the test of fair value for the reforms the Company is seeking.
- Option 1: A marginally higher pay outcome, but tied to seniority changes that carry significant risks. These changes would weaken the bargaining power of subsidiaries, promote further cannibalisation of mainline flying and enable the erosion of mainline conditions. They would also create unnecessary conflict between short haul and long haul pilots, creating division instead of building unity.
- Option 2: A lower pay outcome, absent of seniority changes, but still well short of recognising the fair value of the concessions being sought.
In both cases, the Company is asking pilots to accept significant reforms, including training efficiencies and productivity gains, without offering commensurate value in return.
Our Position
- Pilots are under no obligation to agree to reforms. Any acceptance must be properly compensated.
- The transactional gap between the Company’s offer and a sustainable agreement is not significant. It is the lack of movement on guardrails and package value that is preventing resolution.
- A genuine “IR reset” requires the Company to back its rhetoric with action. Continuing to under-price reforms undermines its own stated cultural shift.
Next Steps
The AFAP is finalising another counter proposal that:
- Reflects member priorities in rostering, crediting, and pay.
- Provides the necessary guardrails for any efficiency reforms.
- Demonstrates that a fair and sustainable agreement is within reach, if the Company is serious about closing the gap.
Our Commitment
We are approaching this process realistically and in good faith. The gap to resolution is narrow, but the responsibility lies with the Company to recognise the true value of the reforms it is seeking. Until then, there is no basis to accept either of the options tabled.
Escalation
Our team will continue to advance a counter proposal that reflects member priorities. At the same time, we are preparing to apply further pressure should a Company reset in approach to these negotiations not materialise.
The AFAP has extensive experience in utilising all escalation options available under the Fair Work Act, and we will not hesitate to do so if it becomes evident we have reached a stalemate at the bargaining table.
We note that amendments to the Fair Work Act make it extremely difficult for Qantas to use Intractable Bargaining to achieve the level of reforms it is seeking. Under s270A of the Fair Work Act, any term in an Intractable Bargaining Workplace Determination must be not less favourable to employee than the existing LH EA. The exception to this is if a matter is considered an agreed term which are automatically included in a Workplace Determination, something the AFAP consider during bargaining.
For that reason, while we will continue to prepare for escalation, our focus remains on achieving a negotiated agreement that appropriately values the structural reform and other changes the Company is seeking and delivers a sustainable outcome for all pilots.
Questions and Feedback
If you have any questions or feedback please contact your AFAP Qantas Pilot Council representatives at qpc@afap.org.au, or the AFAP legal and industrial team of Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Pat Larkins (patrick@afap.org.au), Senior Industrial Officer Deanna Cain (deanna@afap.org.au) or Executive Director Simon Lutton (simon@afap.org.au).
Regards,
AFAP Qantas Pilot Council
Michael Egan – Chair
Mark Gilmour – Vice-Chair
Rob Close – Secretary
Michael Armessen – Committee Member
David LaPorte – Committee Member
Josh Chalmers – Committee Member