Qantas Short Haul EA Update No 28 - AFAP Appeal FOT Decision
The AFAP has filed a notice of appeal against the finding from the Fair Work Commission (FWC) that First Officers Under Training (FOTs), as defined in the Qantas Airways Limited Pilots (Short Haul) Enterprise Agreement 2024 (EA9), are not covered by the Air Pilots Award 2020.The AFAP application is available here.
While the appeal is underway, the new Short Haul EA will not be impacted and will continue in operation. The FWC has indicated the initial appeal dates are in July (at the earliest) so pay rises will already have commenced and other conditions will operate as per the implementation schedule.
Why we are appealing?
The decision was made following a surprising argument from Qantas during the hearing, that FOs under initial training lost Award coverage in 2010 during the Award Modernisation process. This issue was never raised during bargaining or before the hearing, thereby denying the AFAP the opportunity to present critical evidence.
A review of the AFAP archives reveals documents showing FOs under training were in fact intended to be included in Award coverage which were not included in the material provided to the FWC.
Relevant Documents
The omitted evidence includes documents showing that:
- Qantas originally proposed using the General Aviation Award classifications and rates for the Air Pilots Award because these were lower than the Qantas Short Haul Award.
- The General Aviation Award did NOT include training salaries and this coverage was carried into the Air Pilots Award.
- In 2021, Qantas participated in hearings to amend the Award to apply training bonds to FOs under initial training, effectively acknowledging they were covered, despite their current legal argument claiming the opposite.
The AFAP provided the relevant evidence to Qantas lawyers last week, allowing the Company an opportunity to recognise the error and its significant implications.
The AFAP also reinforced we have no interest in affecting the SH EA now in operation. Our legal advice is that there is a legal mechanism for the parties to reach an agreement on resolving the error without affecting the benefits for pilots under the SH EA.
The Path Forward
The AFAP and Qantas IR representatives held constructive talks today at the AFAP Offices in Melbourne. Qantas considered the additional material provided by the AFAP and the parties discussed the potential for a settlement that would allow the error to be resolved by agreement and avoid the need for the appeal to proceed.
We are pleased to see this constructive attitude from Qantas IR following Catherine Walsh telling the Federal Court this week that while Qantas has been “in the wrong”, it has now “changed its ways”.
Ms Walsh has said she is a “central cog” in addressing cultural issues within the business. She has been very helpful to the AFAP with several issues, and the AFAP believes there is a strong working relationship, which we hope will continue.
The AFAP and Qantas will now explore the details of a potential settlement this week. The AFAP are open to exploring any available options that address our concerns and do not impact the implementation of the SHEA.
It should be reiterated that EA9 will not be impacted while the appeal is underway. Pay rises and other conditions will continue as per the implementation schedule.
In the meantime if you have any questions regarding SH bargaining we welcome members contacting the QPC representatives below (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 Chris Aikens (chris@afap.org.au), and Executive Director Simon Lutton (simon@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