Qantas is involved in the fight against a remote cabin crew contract by Reuters

By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Qantas Airways Ltd said on Thursday it wanted to suspend its contract with long-haul flight attendants in a move that would lead to major pay cuts after union members voted on a more flexible list.

Qantas said this is the first time in its history that it has tried to suspend a working conditions agreement or a contract between employers and unions, which is a rare and hot move in Australian labor relations.

If successful, the salaries and conditions of cabin crew would return to a much lower Australian industry minimum standard while a new deal is being negotiated.

The move puts the airline in a high-level union struggle at a time when it needs to reach agreements with short-haul crews to seal the business case of a large order for Airbus SE (OTC 🙂 aircraft.

97% of Qantas’ latest contract offer for long-distance flight attendants was rejected in a December poll.

The airline said the union’s counter-offer was “impossible” because it would raise costs by $ 60 million ($ 43.30 million) in four years.

“We are looking for a warning because we cannot effectively manage our business to successfully restart our international network without desperately changing the list we need in the post-COVID world,” Andrew David, Qantas International CEO, said in a statement.

Under the current agreement, cabin crew operating in the A330 fleet cannot be used in the 787 and A380 fleets, making it more difficult for Qantas to change aircraft types.

The airline is running just 20% of its previous international capacity COVID-19 this quarter with the launch of the Omicron variant, leading to tougher border restrictions in some countries.

Qantas said the Australian Fair Labor Commission would respond to the request in the coming weeks as the airline called for a speedy hearing. He said the same deal, which was rejected by the union, was “open”.

($ 1 = A $ 1.3858)