Multi-Day Reassignment (RAS)
The proposed 2026 EA contains a concession in relation to the re-assignable span (RAS) on the final day of a multi-day tour of duty in specific circumstances.
Jetstar's initial position was to replace the final day of a multi-day tour with standby. This would have represented a significant erosion of existing protections and was firmly rejected by the AFAP.
The Company subsequently proposed retaining RAS but extending the final-day sign-off to the later of 1400 or the existing RAS span, with that change applying broadly across all scenarios, including training and operational disruptions/removals.
The Company's position throughout negotiations was that this change was necessary to improve operational recovery capability and reduce disruption caused by short-notice personal leave removals from the roster.
While our preference was to retain the current RAS arrangements in full, achieving the required uplift in base salary and other key outcomes required trade-offs.
Through negotiations, the unions secured a more limited and better-confined outcome than Jetstar initially sought.
Importantly, the provision will apply only where a pilot self-displaces due to an approved form of leave, including personal leave, URTI, bereavement leave or ad hoc leave, as well as fatigue, subject to a specific fatigue carve-out. Where a pilot has not received 36 hours free of duty, including two local nights, prior to the tour and reports fatigue due to operational factors, the final day will remain unchanged at original sign-off plus one hour.
Additionally, the existing notification requirements for callout/RAS periods under clause 15.2.7 will continue to apply. Operational removals, including those arising from FDP limits or a pilot not extending, will not trigger any change to the current RAS protections.
As with all negotiated outcomes, this concession formed part of the broader bargaining position across the EA package currently being put to pilots for consideration.
How the Multi-Day RAS Changes Apply in Practice
Example 1 - Personal Leave (UFD) Trigger
RAS Extension Applies
A pilot is rostered on a multi-day tour with the following duties:
Original Roster:
Day 1: OFF
Day 2: ADL-BNE-ADL
Day 3: ADL-DPS
Day 4: HTL
Day 5: DPS-ADL - sign off 06:40
Before commencing the multi-day trip on day 3, the pilot calls in sick (UFD), resulting in the removal of the planned tour.
As this is a pilot-initiated displacement due to approved leave, the new multi-day reassignment provisions apply.
Revised Roster:
Day 3: UFD
Day 4: STB
Day 5: RAS not past 14:00
Outcome:
In this scenario, the extended RAS provision applies because the disruption to the tour is the result of pilot self-displacement due to personal leave. This means:
- Final-day RAS sign-off becomes the later of 1400 or the existing RAS span.
- In this example, the pilot may be used up to 14:00 on Day 5.
It is important to note that the contactability requirements for RAS have not changed. Jetstar must still place a contact period between 13 and 5 hours prior to the original sign-off, or 15 and 7 hours for SNWBP, in accordance with Roster Protocol clause 15.2.7. or a NB pilot (which this example is from) this means that Jetstar must place a callout window sometime between 1450 on day 4 and 0140 on day 5. Because we have been able to maintain these restrictions, Jetstar will have to either shorten the STB span on day 4 or have a callout time resulting in a RAS window that has limited utility.
Example 2 - Fatigue After Operational Disruption
No Change to RAS
A pilot is rostered on a multi-day tour with the following duties:
Original Roster:
Day 1: CNS-BNE-CNS - sign on 05:00, sign off 11:30
Day 2: CNS-MEL-CNS - sign on 13:50, sign off 22:55
Day 3: CNS-DPS - sign on 19:00
Day 4: HTL
Day 5: DPS-CNS - sign off 06:00
On Day 2, the duty is significantly delayed due to weather and engineering issues, resulting in an actual sign-off of 01:05 on Day 3 instead of 22:55. The pilot subsequently obtains limited rest, wakes early due to circadian disruption, and reports fatigued for Day 3.
At the point of reporting fatigue, the pilot has not received 36 hours free of duty, including two local nights, and the fatigue is linked to operational factors.
Revised Roster:
Day 3: FTG
Day 4: STB
Day 5: RAS not past 07:00
Outcome:
- Final-day RAS is limited to no more than one hour beyond the original rostered sign-off.
- In this example, the pilot cannot be used beyond 07:00 on Day 5.
There is no change to the status quo in this example; the existing clause continues to apply.
Example 3 - Fatigue After Adequate Rest
RAS Extension Applies
A pilot is rostered on a widebody multi-day pairing with the following duties:
Original Roster:
Day 1: OFF
Day 2: OFF
Day 3: Pax SYD-MEL
Day 4: MEL-SGN
Day 5: SGN-MEL
Day 6: Sign off 10:40
Before commencing the trip, the pilot reports fatigued on Day 3. In this scenario:
- The pilot has received greater than 36 hours free of duty, including two local nights; and
- The fatigue is therefore not captured by the operational fatigue protection carve-out.
As a result, the pilot is removed from the trip and the new multi-day reassignment provisions apply.
Revised Roster:
Day 3: FTG
Day 4: STB
Day 5: STB
Day 6: RAS not past 14:00
Outcome:
As the fatigue does not meet the criteria for the fatigue carve-out, it is treated as a self-displacement for the purposes of this provision. This means:
- Final-day RAS sign-off becomes the later of 1400 or the existing RAS span. In this example the RAS is extended by 2 hours and 20 min.
In this example, the pilot may be used up to 14:00 on Day 6, rather than being limited under the current EA provisions to one hour beyond the original sign-off, i.e. not past 11:40.
Example 4 - Discretionary Change to Limits (DCTL) and Insufficient Rest
No Change to RAS
A pilot is rostered on a multi-day tour with the following duties:
Original Roster:
Day 1: BNE-LST-BNE-MKY-BNE - planned 11.3-hour duty
Day 2: BNE-CEB - sign on 12:40
Day 3: HTL
Day 4: CEB-BNE
Day 5: Sign off 05:35
On Day 1, the duty is delayed and the pilot elects to extend under a Discretionary Change to Limits (DCTL) to complete the flying.
As a result of the extension, the pilot does not receive the minimum required rest prior to the subsequent duty, and the multi-day trip cannot proceed as originally rostered.
Revised Roster:
Day 2: RAS
Day 3: STB
Day 4: STB
Day 5: RAS not past 06:35
Outcome:
- Day 2 was an operational removal, so final-day RAS is limited to no more than one hour beyond the original rostered sign-off.
- In this example, the pilot cannot be used beyond 06:35 on Day 5.
- If in this example the pilot had utilised their discretion and not extended, the same result would occur. The pilot would be displaced from the trip beginning on day 2, and the final RAS would remain as the status quo of 0635.
Standby Periods Below 75 Credit Hours
The proposed 2026 EA will include a change to the existing standby (STB) matrix in clause 46.9 to allow up to four standby days when pilots are rostered below 75 credit hours. Currently, pilots are limited to three standby days when rostered under 75 hours.
Under the proposed 2026 EA, the standby matrix will be as follows:
We appreciate that members may view this change as less than desirable. However, it was one of Jetstar's key claims in bargaining and was ultimately agreed by the unions as part of the broader package of improvements secured in other areas of the Agreement. These include, but are not limited to, increases to base salary, structural reform of the salary system, and the increase in DDOs from 132 to 144 per year.
It is important to understand that Jetstar made the additional DDOs contingent on achieving this change to the standby matrix. Put simply, the Company's position was that if the unions were not prepared to agree to an additional standby period below 75 hours, it would not agree to increase DDOs to 144 per year.
Part of the Company's reasoning is that the additional DDOs will, on average, reduce the number of available workdays in each roster period, making it more difficult to roster pilots to 75 or more credit hours and achieve 4 standby days.
Importantly, this change only applies where both of the following requirements are met:
- the pilot's rostered credit hours are below 75 hours; and
- there are sufficient duty-free days on the roster to accommodate an additional standby period.
This does not create an additional workday. Standby will still form part of the annual workdays available to Jetstar, which will reduce from 233 to 221 by the end of the proposed EA as a result of the increased DDO entitlement.
It should also be noted that existing roster construction limitations, including current flying density, forecast flying density, FRMS limitations and the increased minimum day-off requirements, materially limit the Company's ability to roster the additional standby in practice.
It is also worth considering standby and reserve arrangements at other Australian operators. For example, at Virgin Australia, pilots may be rostered up to eight standby days in a composite flying roster period of 28 days, or alternatively placed on a full standby roster.
At Qantas Short Haul, pilots may be rostered up to three standby duties per 28-day roster period, in addition to up to two Available Days per roster period, capped at 24 Available Days per year.
At Qantas Long Haul, "Blank Line" rosters operate across a 56-day roster period and contain 20 DDOs, which are not fixed and may be moved after roster publication to accommodate trips allocated from reserve.
The AFAP weighed this concession carefully against the broader package of improvements and protections secured throughout negotiations. On balance, it was considered an acceptable compromise within the overall outcome now being put to pilots for consideration.
If you have any questions, your pilot representatives and AFAP industrial officers Deanna Cain, Pat Larkins or Andrew Molnar are available to assist via jetstar@afap.org.au or call (03) 9928 5737.
Members can also engage constructively with AFAP pilot representatives and industrial staff via the members-only AFAP Telegram forum here.
Regards,
AFAP Jetstar Negotiating Team
Chris Gibson, Dominic Corcoran, Daniel Blakemore, Ben Bollen, Jake Gainger and Paul Hogan