Australia Could Face New Travel Disruptions as Qantas Engineers Strike Hits Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Canberra Amid Wage Dispute

Monday, September 30, 2024

Thousands of travellers are bracing for delays as Qantas engineers plan to extend their strike over a heated wage dispute. Over a thousand engineers will walk off the job during Monday morning’s peak-hour flights, right as NSW school holidays begin.

Major airports in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth are expected to feel the impact, with work stoppages scheduled from 7am to 9am in each time zone.

The engineers, represented by the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance—which includes the AMWU, AWU, and ETU—are pushing for a 5% annual wage increase and a 15% first-year payment to cover three and a half years of frozen wages. According to AMWU National Secretary Steve Murphy, the decision to strike comes after communication with Qantas management broke down during negotiations over the enterprise agreements, which expired in June.

This strike follows a string of disruptions caused by staff shortages since Thursday, when union members first walked off the job. While some flights were delayed, the airline attributed some of the disruptions to bad weather.

Qantas operates flights to 61 domestic and 35 international destinations, including seasonal routes, spanning 23 countries across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. These routes exclude destinations served by Qantas subsidiaries, aside from QantasLink. Internationally, Qantas connects travelers to key cities such as London, Paris, Rome, Johannesburg, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Honolulu. In Asia, the airline flies to destinations including Delhi, Bengaluru, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Manila, Singapore, and Tokyo. Additionally, Qantas offers flights to New Zealand cities such as Wellington, Christchurch, and Queenstown, as well as New York and Santiago. Domestically, Melbourne is among its primary hubs.

Qantas engineers, along with components and line maintenance workers, will continue their strike on Monday, with the union warning travellers to expect significant delays and immediate impacts on flight schedules.

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