As you would be aware, earlier this week the company sent out the proposed EFA Pilots Enterprise Agreement 2025 for what is known as the access period. This is a mandatory 7 day period that the company must have the document released and any changes to the previous agreement explained before a vote opens. The company has also run various explanation sessions to explain the proposed EA with the last of these company information sessions to take place on Monday 15 December 2025. If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to dial into this company meeting and ask any questions you have.
All EFA Pilot Meeting on the Eve of the Vote – 5:00pm Tuesday 16 December 2025
We will also hold another all EFA pilot meeting on the eve of the vote opening. This meeting will be held at 5:00pm (Melbourne/Sydney time), 4:00pm (Brisbane time) on Tuesday 16 December 2025. The Teams details are below:
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Meeting ID: 448 716 288 489 10
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Thank You
The first thing we want to do is thank each of you for the support and unity you have shown through what has been a long and difficult bargaining period. This process has involved multiple Fair Work Commission (FWC) applications and conferences, numerous bargaining meetings and various protected industrial action (PIA).
Regardless of whether you support the final proposed EA or not, it is very clear the offer has improved dramatically from what the company was initially proposing. That we managed to make this progress is because of you. So again, thank you for your support and unity.
Our position on the Proposed Agreement
Just before the current agreement was released, the unions (AFAP, AIPA and TWU) wrote to the company to advise that if minor improvements were made to the duty travel entitlements being offered, we would endorse the proposed agreement. The company did not agree to the minor changes we sought and as a result the AFAP has decided to take an impartial stance towards the proposed agreement. We just want to make sure you fully understand what is on offer and what the risks are if it is not voted up.
Proposed Agreement Summary
Although we were able to achieve significant gains in some areas, we were unable to manage this throughout the entire agreement.
The company, as it is required to do, has provided a deal of information on the proposed agreement and the differences to the current agreement. We do not intend to repeat or overload you with information on this.
From an overall perspective the proposed agreement makes improvements on current entitlements. You do not lose anything or have any current entitlement removed or reduced. We were however not able to achieve all the entitlements and protections we sought, and we know you wanted to see delivered, in this round of bargaining.
Throughout the negotiating process the AFAP, AIPA and TWU attempted to get the best we could for our members. We succeeded in some areas and in other areas we were simply unable to achieve any change or, if we were, it was a watered-down version.
The areas we made significant progress include:
- Increased Salary and Years in Rank - The unions were able to secure reasonable salary increases and additional pay for pilots as their years in rank increase. This acknowledges pilots who stay with the company long term.
- Duty Hour Allowance - This allowance is $17.51 for Captains and $11.39 First Officers. This provides an improved incentive when at work and a method of boosting salary.
- Days Off - All of the unions worked hard to deliver more days off for the pilot group. The proposed EA will provide 10 DDOs in 10 BP and 9 DDOs in 3 BP. This equates to 23 more days off per year.
- Roster Variation Allowance - the unions were able to secure a payment for roster disruption of $400 for Captains and $250 for First Officers.
- Pilot Council - The pilot council will meet with the company quarterly. It will allow the pilot group the ability to express concerns through the pilot council, rather than having to directly engage with the company, on items like FDAP, hotel standards, rostering protocol, crew meals etc.
- FDAP Protocol - Flight data analysis programs monitor and analyse flight operations and engineering performance. An FDAP protocol ensures that the data used is non-punitive and only seen by a limited number of people, often with the data de-identified to ensure anonymity in most cases. The AFAP are pleased that the company has agreed to develop this.
- Loss of Licence – the option to either stay on the company scheme (default) or obtain a reimbursement (up to $2963) for your own loss of licence coverage (such as the AAPMBF) is a potential benefit to many EFA pilots.
- Seniority – for promotions and transfers provides more clarity and certainty for the pilot group.
Areas where we failed to make significant progress include:
- Overtime threshold - this is a mixed bag. We are happy with the credit hour system (based on the Qantas Short Haul credits) for things like reserves, admin days and paxing but a 70 hour credit threshold each roster period is higher than we believe is appropriate. It is still however better than the current 750 hour annual threshold without credits. We view this item as creating a framework to improve on (i.e. lower the threshold) next agreement.
- Roster variations - Unfortunately, we were unable to secure the roster protections we set out to achieve. 4 hour buffers or windows are much larger than we argued for.
- Reserve – 5 reserve periods per BP is unacceptable. The union opinion is that this should not be more than 4 in total. To make matters worse the company can then roster reserve periods off an AX. This effectively allows the company to roster unlimited reserves after roster publish. We know this is unacceptable for many pilots, especially commuters. If the agreement is voted up, we will do what we can to address and mitigate this through the pilot council and roster protocol.
- Duty Travel - The unions campaigned hard for Business class duty travel. The main reason we did this is due to the significant fatigue aspect that night freight pilots face and the fact that we are often required to pax directly before, or after a back of the clock (BOC) duty. When it became clear the company would never accept our claim, we looked at other options, such as extra leg room seats, aisle or window only and the highest upgrade priority. The company refused our requests, only offering to endeavour to meet some items. We also enquired about home transport options, and this was flatly refused even though this entitlement is enjoyed by other group AOCs that don’t do consistent BOC duties. Overall, the AFAP is most disappointed with this element of the package.
- Contactability - A number of members have come forward to express their concern about the lack of clarity around contactability. The main concerns stemmed from the significantly broad duty variation windows and having to sign on up to 4 hours earlier for a duty with no indication as to how rest periods or right to disconnect laws work. Again, if the agreement is voted up, we will do what we can to address and mitigate this through the pilot council and roster protocol.
- Mixed fleet flying - The AFAP supported mixed fleet flying on the proviso that the higher WB rate would be paid while the pilot was checked to line on both fleets. The company on the other hand felt it only necessary to pay the higher rate for the BP you would be operating the larger aircraft, even though the pilot would be required to maintain both qualifications while operating mixed fleets.
- Annual Leave - Annual leave is a hot topic with the pilot group. The unions supported requiring a pilot with more than 12 weeks leave to reduce their balance. The company however felt it appropriate to potentially direct a pilot with over 8 weeks accrued to take leave.
- Day Off Payment - The AFAP proposed significantly higher remuneration for working a day off. This incentivises a pilot to work on their day off while providing flexibility to the company when a pilot offers their services. With a relatively low base salary adopting a higher day off payment allows a pilot to potentially boost their take home pay.
What next?
What next is up to you and the EFA pilot group.
If the majority vote in support of the agreement, the improvements will be locked in and there will be certainty. There will be a small amount of backpay, the new salary scales will apply from 1 January 2026 and pilots will start to enjoy more days off etc. We will also do whatever we can to mitigate the impact of the areas where we were unable to make significant progress, such as limiting reserves, via the pilot council and roster protocol mechanisms. The agreement will also form the base to build on in the next round of bargaining.
If the majority vote against the proposed agreement, the current agreement remains in place and what will happen and how long it will take is unclear. Rather than detail potential scenarios in writing, we think this is best discussed on Tuesday’s meeting.
Regardless of which way you vote, we will respect the majority view. As stated at the beginning of this update, we just want to make sure you fully understand what is on offer and what the risks are if it is not voted up. We encourage all members to attend the EFA pilot meeting on Tuesday 16 December 2025 (Teams link above). The outcome of the vote which opens the next day will be pivotal.
Thank you again for your support.
If you have any questions on the above, please contact us directly or Simon Lutton at the AFAP on mobile: 0419 482 582 or email simon@afap.org.au.
In Unity
Susha Semenikow and Dean McMahon
AFAP EFA Pilot Representatives