As foreshadowed in our previous update, the AFAP’s Log of Claims includes a number of comprehensive proposals. A summary of our key proposals, along with the rationale behind them, is outlined below.
Roster Credit Protection
Currently, Jetstar pilots do not place value on EFA (overtime), as EFA credits earned early in the month often do not materialise to EFA due to credits being reduced or removed later because of operational disruptions, training requirements, or other company-initiated changes. This leaves pilots at a financial disadvantage and undermines the incentive to take on additional work.
Roster Credit Protection (RCP) is a proposed system designed to provide greater roster stability and financial certainty by guaranteeing that a pilot’s minimum pay for the roster period will be based on the credits assigned at the time of Roster Publish. The objective is to safeguard a pilot’s original roster from being eroded due to company disruptions, inefficient STB or AVAIL Day callouts, or other changes outside the pilot's control.
Under RCP, credit reductions would only occur in the case of UFD or Personal FTG. All other credits assigned at Roster Publish would be protected for pay purposes, ensuring that pilots are fairly compensated for the work they were originally rostered to perform and are not left bearing the financial cost of operational disruptions.
In addition to providing financial stability for pilots, RCP also aims to incentivise the Company, particularly Crewing, to make better operational decisions, ultimately resulting in fewer roster disruptions and a more stable working environment for pilots.
Fatigue Credit Protection
The AFAP Fatigue Credit Protection Proposal ensures Jetstar pilots who remove themselves from duty due to work-related fatigue retain their originally rostered credits for the day of the removal, and the subsequent day if on a multi-day tour of duty.
Under the proposal, fatigue removals will initially be classified as Operational (work-related) unless they occur before sign-on following days off, in which case they can be deemed Personal.
A Fatigue Review Committee (FRC) can review and reclassify events if necessary, and pilots have the right to dispute any FRC decision.
With the financial penalty for fatigue removals shifting from the pilot to the business, this creates a financial imperative for Jetstar to then address the FRMS settings in pairing construction and rostering practices that drive fatigue. We expect this will extend beyond rostering practices to other areas that can impact pilot fatigue, such as hotel standards and crew transport.
Roster Disruption Completion Payment
Under the current EA, pilots are frequently asked to accept changes to their rostered duties that are optional and not contractually required. While there is no obligation for a pilot to accept such changes, doing so can prevent operational disruptions, flight cancellations, or the need to call out another pilot.
This proposal seeks to introduce an additional payment to incentivise and appropriately compensate pilots who agree to such discretionary roster changes. We are proposing that the pilot would be paid an amount equivalent to 4 hours of EFA (credit hours for the sectors will still be counted towards EFA), however this payment would not apply where a WDO payment would otherwise apply.
Open Time System
We have developed an open time system that allows for dropping tours of duty into an open time register regardless of whether a pilot is in overtime (EFA) or not. Offloading of tours of duty would result in a cost/debt to the pilot, while a pilot who picks up the flying will receive the associated EFA and any relevant allowances linked to the tour of duty.
A key feature of our open time proposal is that the EFA threshold does not limit a pilot’s ability to offload flying. This approach deliberately removes any debate over where the EFA threshold needs to be to facilitate this system, and as highlighted in the AFAP survey results, pilots will not pay for an EFA reduction.
Our proposal ensures open time will not be a casualty of EFA threshold discussions, and we expect to have a well-defined open time system ready for implementation as part of a new EA.
Leave Purchase
Leave purchase is a proposed system for increasing part time arrangements and providing pilots with greater flexibility in managing their work-life balance.
Currently, the EA provides for limited part-time options, namely 75% (Flexi Line – 10% floor), and 50% (Job Share – rarely utilised) workloads, which does not adequately capture the diverse needs of the pilot group or the demand for part time.
Under the proposed Leave Purchase system, pilots would be able to purchase additional leave days that are then rostered into each roster period. This mechanism effectively enables a broader range of part-time work arrangements, such as 95%, 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, and potentially down to 50% (in line with current Job Share).
As part of our proposal, pilots may elect to adopt a permanent reduction in workload percentage, avoiding the current cycle of rotating between Flexi Line and full-time rosters which can lead to significant frustration for some pilots. Or as per the existing Flexi Line system, pilots can still opt for a temporary part-time arrangement (typically 1–2 years in duration).
Our leave purchase system is in addition to the current flexi-line arrangements.
Roster Adjustment Days (RAD)
Pilots currently have no viable mechanism to adjust their published rosters for important personal or family-related reasons. This lack of flexibility can negatively affect pilot wellbeing, and, in some cases, lead to last-minute roster changes/operational disruption. To address this, the introduction of Roster Adjustment Days (RADs) is proposed as a practical and fair solution that would allow pilots to adjust their rosters post-publication by utilising their existing annual (ad hoc) leave entitlement.
We have proposed an annual Limit of 6 RADs per pilot, whereby a pilot must give a minimum of 72 hours’ notice to crewing to utilise a RAD. This would provide crewing with sufficient time to source a replacement, including from other bases if necessary. Multiday trips would require a pilot to use a RAD day for each day of the trip they were removed from.
Advantages of using a RAD include the 3.6-hour credit for the ad hoc leave day and the ability to still use Staff Travel if desired. For Jetstar, RADs could help avoid operational disruption caused by last minute removals.
The detailed rules, including any blackout periods, daily usage limits and how pilot requests are prioritised will all form part of the negotiation.
Overall, RADs represent a measured and mutually beneficial initiative that balances pilot flexibility with operational certainty.
Duty Travel
The AFAP Duty Travel Proposal introduces several key changes to improve travel arrangements for Jetstar’s pilots, and align duty travel provisions closer to mainline pilots. This includes a clear hierarchy for seat allocation on company aircraft, prioritising;
- Business class/Highest class available on that service, or
- Economy seating with a spare adjacent seat, or
- Extra legroom seats, or
- An economy aisle or window seat.
Where a pilot is required to position in a class lower than business on any Qantas Group flights, they will receive 100% hard credit pay per hour for each hour of positioning travel but will not receive EFA credits for that travel, however, if business class is not offered on the route, a soft 100% credit will apply instead.
Additionally, we are proposing that booking references must be provided within 24 hours of roster publication or at the time the duty is assigned, noted on the pilot’s roster.
The proposal provides for improved comfort and convenience, including all pilots having access to Qantas Business Class lounges while on duty travel, as is provided to other Qantas Group pilots.
Two-way transport
The AFAP is proposing enhancements to fatigue transport arrangements to better support pilot wellbeing and operational safety.
Specifically, our proposal is that for pilots living within a 100km radius of their home base airport, the Company will provide two-way transport between the pilot’s home and the airport when they are required to operate more than two (2) hours of duty between 0100 and 0459 local time.
This proposal seeks to address a key barrier to the current fatigue transport offering, namely, the personal inconvenience and logistical burden of pilots having to later retrieve their car from the airport in their own time.
Standards of Accommodation
The AFAP is seeking to achieve and maintain improvements to existing hotel standards by the following:
- A requirement that all hotel tenders include the option for a tender for sufficient rooms for pilots only, in addition to the tender for all crew.
- Ensuring that the company will not contract a hotel that was not approved by the Unions or the PCC (or equivalent committee)
Over the life of the current agreement, there has been several occasions where the company contracted a hotel that was not recommended by the PCC, which has resulted in some undesirable hotels being contracted.
We have also found that with the growing number of Jetstar crew overnighting in various ports that it limits our opportunity to contract a higher standard hotel because they are unable to cater for the required rooms. Previously, the company has been reluctant to split Tech and Cabin crew but this proposal introduces a formal process at the tender stage to tender for pilot numbers only.
Alternate deadhead travel provision
We have put forward a proposal that allows pilots to freely select alternative deadhead travel between Qantas (QF) and Jetstar (JQ) flights, including both domestic and international services, regardless of the original booking. Alternative deadhead travel would be limited to routes between a pilot’s assigned base or their registered place of residence. All tickets would be issued as confirmed economy class (positive space) with eligibility for upgrade to the highest available class. Pilots would also be able to move their alternative deadhead flight to any time within their live roster.
Under the proposal, pilots who alternate deadhead will receive credit for the originally rostered flight (no hard credit) regardless of the travel class, be provided transport to company accommodation if required, and receive all applicable allowances based on the original duty.
MOU
We have included a requirement for Jetstar to advertise all vacancies to eligible Qantas MOU pilots to prevent ghost numbers (‘Q’ numbers) being preserved on the Jetstar Seniority list.
As it stands, Q numbers have been preserved in the Jetstar seniority list because the Company haven’t been advertising vacancies to Qantas pilots. If this practice continues, the Q numbers will, in time, reach very senior positions in Jetstar.
For years, we have advocated for a more balanced and reciprocal application of the MOU. To date, 117 pilots have transferred from Qantas to Jetstar under the MOU, while only 7 have returned the other way.
This disparity highlights the need to ensure the intent of the MOU is complied with, and this claim will assist to that end.
Upcoming Meeting
The next bargaining meeting with Jetstar is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday 26 May, when we expect the Company to present its own set of claims and benchmarking data.
We will continue to keep you informed of developments.
If you have any questions, your pilot representatives are available to assist. Alternatively, you can contact your AFAP industrial officers Deanna Cain, Pat Larkins or Andrew Molnar via email; patrick@afap.org.au, or andrew@afap.org.au or call (03) 9928 5737.
Regards,
AFAP Jetstar Pilot Federation Committee
Andrew Ward, Ben Bollen, Chris Gibson, Christo Hailes, Clinton Baxter, Daniel Blakemore, Darren Fielder, Darren Davis, Dominic Corcoran, Ed Greenidge, Jake Gainger, Jordan Moras, Paul Hogan, Raj Krishnan and Michael Dwyer.