QPC Briefing No 36 2025
Merry Christmas from your AFAP Qantas Pilots’ Council Committee.
On behalf of the AFAP, the QPC Committee wishes all members a very merry Christmas. For those working the holiday period and away from family, thank you for doing your part to connect other people to their holiday plans around the country.
Over the Christmas holiday period, the AFAP office will remain open other than on public holidays.
AFAP support for members over this busy time remains as follows:
- For non-urgent scheduling (EA/FRMS) enquiries, please use please use AVA below or email qpcscheduling@afap.org.au
- For urgent enquiries contact Patrick Larkins (+61 403 126 067) and Simon Lutton (+61 419 482 582) are available 24/7 as normal (**please update Simon’s number in your phones as an earlier brief contained a wrong number**).
- Our Safety & Technical team will continue to provide the 24/7 accident and incident hotline (+61 459 747 757)
- Non-urgent safety and technical matters should be sent to technical@afap.org.au and qpc@afap.org.au
- The Member Assistance Program is available 24/7 365 days a year for free, confidential support from psychologists (1300 307 912 or +61 8 9388 900)
2025 has been a busy year for the QPC, with two Enterprise Agreements (EAs) on foot, numerous disputes with the company regarding interpretations of the EAs and FRMs and strong membership growth. We would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few matters from this year.
AFAP Virtual Assistant (AVA)
For those LH pilots who haven’t downloaded or used the AskAFAP App (Ava) there is no better time than now. Members have been flooding the app with questions, specifically around what happens in the event of a NO vote for LH EA11. Ava has access to our EA, FRMS, previous briefs and all our scheduling and IR team.
Given the Christmas period has corporate shutdowns within QF, and the AFAP runs on a skeleton staff setup for a limited time, Ava is available 24/7 to interrogate your roster, tell you what rostering arrangements you are required to comply with (and what you can push back on), and can provide exact EA references for you to liaise directly with QF scheduling.
To stay engaged, ask AVA:
- What happens in the event of a NO vote?
- What is TAFB and how will that affect me?
- What measures are there in LH EA11 to fix Blanklines?
- What are the FRMS limits for my next duty?
- To learn more, watch the promo video here and read the AskAFAP App e-Guide here.
Long Haul Agreement
After a long period of negotiation, in October the company reached in-principal agreement with AIPA and moved to the drafting phase of the agreement process. Despite your AFAP negotiators making some progress in a number of areas, the QPC determined that the proposal did not meet the threshold required for the AFAP to provide an in-principal agreement or a unified recommendation to members. This reflected the fact that the proposal may represent fair value for some pilots, while delivering materially different outcomes for others.
We have produced a comprehensive explanatory document outlining the proposal currently on the table, the mechanisms within it, and the pathway that has led to this point. Rather than adopting a single recommended position, the AFAP’s role has been to ensure pilots are equipped with the tools and information necessary to assess the proposal against their own circumstances. Members are encouraged to read this material carefully and to share it with colleagues, including those who are not AFAP members, to ensure pilots have access to complete and accurate information.
Short Haul Agreement
The AFAP worked hard following the first vote to advocate for a stronger deal for Pilots’, while this was largely obtained, we held reservations regarding the dispute resolution procedure. As detailed in our past update here, during the approval process, the AFAP secured an improved dispute resolution procedure that meets the requirements of the Fair Work Act, which the drafted clauses in the final EA did not. The AFAP as a result can enforce the agreement on members behalf, without naming individual pilots.
In addition, following strong advocacy from the AFAP, it was agreed with Qantas that FOTs be paid the First Officer Award rate and uplift their salary by 42% to $8,819.47 per 28 day bid period.
These changes ensure our EA meets the basic requirements of the Fair Work Act. It is important that these minimum standards are upheld and it is thanks to the deep experience of AFAP staff and the tireless advocacy of your representatives that this occurred.
Safety and Technical Work
AFAP members, reps and staff have worked hard on various safety and technical matters this year, including fatigue and security screening. We have continued to liaise with Qantas Safety, the fatigue management team and base management regarding fatiguing duties.
In Short Haul many of these occur due to early to late switches or reserve call outs late in a reserve period. We welcome the planned changes which, once implemented, will limit the time a pilot can be on reserve and flight duty to a total of 16 hours. This means that if you are called at the end of your 12 hour reserve period it may only be to conduct a 4 hour duty. This is in line with industry standards at other operators.
We are however, concerned that this change is being held back due to not having enough headcount to implement. We firmly believe that safety must always take priority.
As stated to pilots in the Facial Hair Requirements FAQ published on 19 August, ‘The Qantas Group, like all ASX listed companies, has a Risk Appetite Statement (we call ours a Risk Appetite Framework) that is approved by the Board … In the area of Safety of Flight, we have a conservative risk appetite, tested and agreed with the Board.’ We expect this policy to be applied consistently through all decisions.
The AFAP established an AusALPA Security Screening Working Group to move forward positive changes for crew security screening. We all feel the frustration of receiving ‘extra attention’ simply due to our uniforms triggering security alarms and the inconsistency of procedures from port to port or day to day, meaning you never know what the right thing to do is!
Any changes in this area will require support from government, airports and operators and the Working Group will continue advocating for improvements in 2026.
In addition, the safety and technical staff have helped dozens of pilots with fatigue reports and safety occurrences. They can always be reached by calling the office or emailing technical@afap.org.au. In addition, the AFAP has the 24/7 Accident and Incident Hotline on +61 459 747 757.
The Safety & Technical Team has also published a safety occurrence guide and an accident and incident checklist, which are excellent resources to keep in your bag or on your iPad.
Looking ahead to 2026
Looking ahead, 2026 will bring many challenges, and collective efforts will be more important than ever. The company will continue to push for flexibility on its terms. Our job is to ensure that any change reflects the professionalism, responsibility, and the safety-critical nature of the work we do every day.
That means being organised, informed, and ready to act together when it matters. Real gains are won by members who stand shoulder to shoulder, who talk to their colleagues, and who back their representatives with unity and purpose. The AFAP QPC’s greatest strength in 2026 will remain the same as it has always been: an engaged and confident pilot group that knows its value and is prepared to stand up for it.
From all at the AFAP, have a safe and merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
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
Rob Gilmour – Committee Member