QPC Briefing No 8 2025
Qantas' LH EA Proposals – A Pattern of Concessions Without Compensation
Qantas' Negotiation Strategy: Concessions Disguised and Hidden Efficiencies
Qantas continues to push a one-sided industrial agenda while presenting a filtered version of events to its pilots. The Company’s internal communications carefully avoid mentioning the scale of what is being sought at the bargaining table: significant cost savings for the Company achieved through further degraded conditions for pilots.
The Company strategy is increasingly clear - restructure, remove, and reduce - while offering little or no meaningful offset in return. Below is a summary of key proposals being pushed by Qantas, and the serious implications they carry.
Importantly, the concessions outlined here represent only a portion of the company’s full claim. Qantas has put forward at least 35 major industrial concessions, along with an additional 25 training-related concessions. What follows are just some of the most critical examples which impact pilot conditions and protections, and well-being.
Resistance to Fatigue Science and Protections
Qantas is resisting meaningful improvements to fatigue risk management - particularly for 4 crew operations on the B787 and A350 fleets. These flights, often scheduled for high-risk back-of-the-clock operations, remain without the fatigue mitigations afforded to 2 and 3 crew operations or 4 crew operations on legacy fleets (with a proven track record).
Despite mounting peer-reviewed evidence on the cumulative fatigue and long-term health consequences of circadian disruption, Qantas continues to ignore accepted science, instead relying on limited, voluntary alertness reports. Their refusal to embed our proposed protections - such as fatigue credits, extended minimum base turnaround times (MBTT), or route consistency requirements - represents a clear failure to prioritise safety and pilot wellbeing.
Qantas’ current Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) has significant limitations. It relies heavily on a biomathematical model. All biomathematical models are limited tools and designed to supplement fatigue mitigations (such as fatigue credits) not to replace them.
Importantly, these models are calibrated for population averages, and do not account for individual variability. By contrast, historical industrial protections - such as night credits, minimum rest periods, and stable scheduling rules - have proven far more reliable in protecting pilot health and operational safety. Pilots must ask themselves: do you trust a corporation whose core priority is cost and efficiency to manage your fatigue? Or do you trust peer-reviewed science and negotiated protections embedded in a binding industrial agreement?
Targeting Duty Travel Protections
Qantas is demanding the removal of First Class duty travel entitlements, a change they admit offers them substantial cost savings. Yet they have proposed no meaningful offset, and continue to refuse to agree to a basic lie-flat clause for duty travel positioning.
Making matters worse, Qantas is also seeking to strip the Unions of its role in approving Business Class seating suitability - opening the door for pilots to be assigned substandard rest environments prior to operating duties.
Category Collapse – Eroding Pilot Protections
Qantas is proposing to collapse the A330 and SFF categories into a single A330/A350 category, where flying would be allocated based purely on qualification. This would:
- Strip A330 pilots of protections in the event of fleet retirement.
- Remove their ability to avoid Project Sunrise flying.
- Block current pathways to bid to the B787.
This change represents a major degradation of long-held rights and entitlements, yet Qantas has offered nothing of substance in return.
Punitive New Pay Table Structure
Under Qantas’ proposed time-in-category pay system, pilots changing fleet or rank would lose pay progression and start again at a lower level. While framed as a structural improvement, the reality is that it:
Penalises pilots for career progression or lifestyle-driven category changes.
Divides the workforce between those who stay in one category and those who move.
Qantas has rejected the AFAP’s efforts to design fair mitigation strategies - again, demonstrating a reluctance to collaborate or compromise.
Failure to Resolve the B and C-Scale Disparity
Despite early and repeated messaging from the AFAP, Qantas has done far too little to address the inequity faced by B and C-scalers. These pilots continue to carry full responsibilities with only partial recognition - and the company’s current proposal barely shifts the dial.
This ongoing injustice reflects a lack of seriousness in resolving legacy issues and ensuring equal treatment across the pilot group.
Expanding Contactability – Increasing Fatigue Risk
Qantas is seeking to extend pilot contactability after confirmation of duty, requiring pilots to remain contactable during the 15-4 window even after confirming their assignment.
This has direct fatigue implications for commuters. It erodes predictability, sleep planning, and recovery—all without any offsetting benefits. It is yet another operational gain for the company, paid for in fatigue, stress, and uncertainty by pilots.
Cutting TAFB Protections – Forcing Pilots to Pay to Train
Qantas wants to reduce eligibility for Training Away From Base (TAFB) protections, meaning many out-of-base pilots would no longer receive accommodation and related allowances during training.
This will disproportionately affect lower-paid pilots, particularly C-scalers who already struggle with living costs due to concessions made in Long Haul EA10. For some, this proposal would mean:
Training costs would exceed income, as accommodation must be paid out-of-pocket on top of rent or mortgage.
Promotional training may become financially unviable.
Summary: A One-Sided Agenda Disguised as Reform
Across every major area - fatigue, entitlements, pay progression, job protections, and training support -Qantas’ proposals follow the same pattern:
- Cost savings for the Company
- Degraded conditions for pilots.
- Few meaningful offsets or recognition in return.
The AFAP enters these negotiations with the pilot group holding real leverage. Qantas is facing a critical training load challenge, and their ability to implement key fleet and operational changes - particularly the introduction of the A350 - depends heavily on achieving pilot concessions.
The A350’s limited first class capacity (just six seats) means the loss of First Class duty travel entitlements is a priority for the Group Leadership Team, who have identified it as a commercially critical item. Similarly, the proposed category changes would significantly streamline A350 integration and deliver major cost and efficiency gains for the company.
Crucially, Qantas is also relying on securing all 25 of its training-related concessions to address the growing pressure of its internal training pipeline. These proposed changes are intended to maximise trainer flexibility, reduce pilot protections, and deliver operational capacity. Without them, the Company will struggle to meet its upcoming demand.
These are high-value objectives for Qantas – but the AFAP has advised the Company pilots are not inclined to surrender significant industrial ground without fair recognition. The Company needs these outcomes, and that reality must not be underestimated in any strategic assessment of what can and should be protected.
The proposals Qantas has put forward are not genuine reform. They are not a fair and balanced trade. This is an attempt to restructure the industrial landscape of Qantas Long Haul operations at the expense of the pilot group. The AFAP will continue to push back against proposals that are unbalanced, unsupported by evidence, and damaging to pilot wellbeing.
We remain committed to fighting for an agreement that respects the professionalism, health, and contributions of all Qantas pilots.
Questions
For any enquiries regarding Long Haul bargaining or other matters at Qantas please contact any of the QPC below or the AFAP legal and industrial team of Senior Legal/ Industrial Officer Pat Larkins (patrick@afap.org.au) or Senior Industrial Officer Deanna Cain (deanna@afap.org.au).
Regards,
AFAP Qantas Pilot Council
Michael Egan – Chair
Mark Gilmour – Vice- Chair
Daniel Kobeleff – Secretary
Michael Armessen – Committee Member
David LaPorte – Committee Member
Josh Chalmers – Committee Member
Rob Close – Committee Member