Qantas cancels 70 flights, 10,000 waiting

[Ikman Ikreza 0]

Qantas cancels 70 flights, 10,000 waiting

 

MORE than 10,000 Qantas passengers face delays today, with 70 flights cancelled as workers walk off the jobs at airports around the country.

 

Industrial action by baggage handlers and other ground staff today, coinciding with the airline's AGM in Sydney, has renewed calls for Federal Government intervention to end the ongoing battle over pay.

 

Qantas estimates about 70,000 passengers have been affected by the recent months of industrial action.

 

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says it's time for the Federal Government to act.

 

"This is getting worse and worse and I think it is time for the Prime Minister to get active," Mr Abbott told the Nine Network.

 

"It is time for the Prime Minister to prove that her laws are consistent with a degree of protection for the travelling public."

 

Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop said government intervention was vital.

 

"The Government has a responsibility to ensure these strikes don't escalate to a point where they are damaging Australia's national interests," she said.

 

"I urge you all to talk to the union leaders to see if this can be resolved as soon as possible ... use some influence."

 

But Assistant Treasurer and former union leader Bill Shorten said Qantas and the unions would be able to work out a solution.

 

He also noted none of the calls for intervention had come from those actually involved in the dispute.

 

"I have no doubt that there is a solution capable of being worked out by these parties," Mr Shorten told ABC Radio.

 

"It's an important issue but timing is everything."

 

Mr Shorten said Qantas was obviously feeling "massive cost pressures" but many of their workers were not highly paid and had a right to seek better conditions.

 

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said unions had to put "more realistic" demands on the table.

 

"We urge the unions to stop this, to put to the table more realistic demands and to think about the jobs they're endangering around the country," he told the Nine Network.

 

"We've always said we want to do anything that will stop this disruption happening to our passengers - again I apologise to those customers that have been impacted by this."

 

Meanwhile, hundreds of union members are expected to attend the Qantas AGM to voice their concerns as employee shareholders.

 

"Engineers, like many other employees at Qantas, can't understand why plans to offshore jobs and sack 1000 people are being rewarded with cash bonuses and fat pay cheques to the CEO and management," said federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) Steve Purvinas.

 

"It reeks of hypocrisy, and that is what we will be protesting at today's AGM."

 

But Mr Joyce said the unions' demands put the survival of Qantas at risk in a competitive international business environment.

 

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/qantas-cancels-70-flights-10000-waiting/story-e6frfku0-1226179206087#ixzz1c2xBjEpV

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Qantas has grounded ALL international & domestic flights with immediate effect !!

 

Click here

Edited October 29, 2011 by Kee Hooi Yen

[Eugene Koh 4]

Wonder if MAS/AK will increase their flights into Australia with immediate effect to assist with stranded passengers?

[Cheng Long 0]

Qantas has grounded ALL international & domestic flights with immediate effect !!

 

Click here

 

Amazing! Unbelievable.. They are playing hard ball with each other..

 

One thing I notice about Australians in general.. They like to work less and get paid more.. Guess it's the same everywhere but they are quite upfront about it..

[JuliusWong 0]

Well, getting a new salary of AUD 5 million a year the day before and lock down the entire the subsequent day doesn't boils down well with the unions. Qantas has gone haywired....Good Lord~~~

Edited October 29, 2011 by JuliusWong

[Cire 0]

Expected AUD 20millions lost a day for Qantas as it ground ALL its fleets, both domestic and international !!

 

Its a big scale shut-down, head on actions with the union.

 

Folks at Perth were even hard pressed as hotels were totally booked out as CHOGM were on this weekend. The Aussie government were not warned prior and still insist both sides to sit down and "not be childish" about it. Both association and Qantas does not think the Gillard's government can do anything about it and infact they discount her involvement and blamed her for the many poor outcome.

 

Hm, I think MAS fellas will be watching this closely.

 

Pilots getting pay not according to their seniority .. was one of the disputes by the workers' association..

 

Virgin and Jetstar is stepping up to "recover" the situation .

 

Qantas to lock out its staffs this coming Monday 8am in the morning.. wow !!

Edited October 29, 2011 by Cire

[flee 5]

I think Qantas management may be trying to settle the dispute quickly by taking things to the brink. Anyway, its good for pax since they know that there will be ZERO QF flights. Then they don't need to check if their flight is on or off and can make alternative arrangements with certainty.

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

Ever since the labour party is in power, there is an increasing union industrial actions.

 

I believe the Qantas's bold move is to pressure the labour government intervention to end the year long industrial action

[Cire 0]

Qantas are expensive and apparently 80% of Aussie don't fly it. Qantas will go bust if the Aussie government does not protect it from international airlines which is cheaper with cheaper pilots, cabin crews, and ground service staffs.

 

Some were proposing to move Qantas off-shore because Australian wages are too high..

 

The disputes were about using cheaper labor to replace ground handlers.. according to TWU of its 7 months' negotiations.

 

Its about asia-nizing Qantas which naturally will upset the locals. I think in business sense, it has to do what it is needed to ensure survivability.

[JuliusWong 0]

Qantas are expensive and apparently 80% of Aussie don't fly it. Qantas will go bust if the Aussie government does not protect it from international airlines which is cheaper with cheaper pilots, cabin crews, and ground service staffs.

 

Some were proposing to move Qantas off-shore because Australian wages are too high..

 

The disputes were about using cheaper labor to replace ground handlers.. according to TWU of its 7 months' negotiations.

 

Its about asia-nizing Qantas which naturally will upset the locals. I think in business sense, it has to do what it is needed to ensure survivability.

 

The Parliament in the 80s or 90s passed the Qantas Act (name??) stating that Qantas needs to remain in Australia under any circumstances. Well the Act protects Qantas from foreign competitions, keeps jobs onshore and owners at home, the increasing competitions from Middle East and Asia-based airline has squeezed Qantas left, right and center. Therefore the creation of Jetstar to counter the flow.

 

Now with Jetstar which banks on its parents resources, is earning money ( much successful than Qantas itself), it dents Qantas name at the same time. The high publicity of several incidents. especially A380, doesn't help either.

 

Unions are now at loggerheads with the management as more local jobs will be lost to the Asianisation of Qantas new airline based in either SIN and KUL. Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Asia and Pacific idea doesn't boils down well with the Unions as well.

 

Business wise for sustainability YES, but at the cost of locals job- DEFINITELY NO NO! (for Australians at least).

 

The unions had been in negotiation with QF's management for quite some time, but all ended in deadlocks. As if rubbing salt into their (unions)' wound, they whole QF board was re-elected. Alan Joyce stayed as CEO, with new renumeration package. Shareholders hasn't receive any dividend for past one decade. Share of Qantas slided from AUD 6.50 in 2004 to AUD 1.50 today.

 

I am not saying renumeration is wrong. Given the current tough business environment, however, this is not the right time when the CEO is blasting in media stating QF is loosing moey, blah blah blah, then get himself a new salary...Oxymoron,no?

 

The cost of employment in Australia is now getting a bit too high for Qantas to ensure sustainability in long run, therefore the need to overhaul the whole organisation. The Qantas Act should be amended as well so that it can fit in the new climate. Unions can be a good thing, but bad at the same time. Unions main aim now is to ensure job security in future and for their future generation. Both sides can't just fight fire with kerosene...The fire will get even more wild, like the lockdown now.

 

Interestingly, remember earlier this year when AirAsia rumoured to be moving to Jakarta? Some government official were up in arms, criticized AK for doing so.....similar story, different plot......

[Jonathan Lau 0]

Grounding of Qantas fleet

 

Last updated AEDT 9.30pm 29 October 2011.

 

Qantas will stop all domestic and international flights from 5pm (AEDT) on Saturday 29 October until further notice. This is in response to the damaging industrial action by three unions - the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA), the Australian International Pilots Association (AIPA) and the Transport Workers Union (TWU).

 

QantasLink, Jetstar, Jetconnect services, and our freight services (Express Freighters Australia and Atlas) will continue to operate as normal.

 

Qantas is providing a full refund for any flights cancelled due to the industrial action. Customers can also rebook their flights for a later date.

 

Customers are advised not to travel to the airport unless they are travelling on a QantasLink , Jetstar or Jet Connect flight and are urged to reconsider any non-urgent travel and defer their travel plans wherever possible.

 

If your flight number falls within the range QF1400 - 2699 you are travelling with QantasLink and your flight is not affected by the grounding so you should travel to the airport as normal.

 

Qantas codeshares with a number of airlines, these carriers are continuing their operations as scheduled. These flights have both Qantas and alternative carrier flight numbers eg. QF319 and BA16.

 

Please be patient while Flight Status is updated on qantas.com.

 

Due to the significant nature of this disruption and the uncertainty as to how long the grounding will last, we are only able to manage customer bookings on a day-by-day basis.

 

Only customers travelling within the next 24 hours should call our Contact Centres on 13 13 13 or your local Qantas Office to discuss their alternatives.

 

If you are travelling in the next few days/weeks, please monitor the situation on qantas.com. We recommend that you do not change your booking until closer to the date of departure.

 

We understand that this will have a significant impact on our customers and apologise for the inconvenience that the damaging union action has caused. We thank you for your understanding and continued support.

 

Customer Support for customers flying on Saturday 29 October 2011

Domestic customers

 

If you are away from home and between flights today, Qantas will arrange accommodation, meals and transfers for you.

 

If you are away from home and beginning your journey today, unfortunately you will need to source your own accommodation we will reimburse you for reasonable out of pocket expenses including accommodation, transfers, meals and incidentals up to a total value of AUD 350 per person per day. A limit of AUD 250 per night for accommodation and AUD 100 for incidentals (meals and phone calls) per person per day applies.

International customers

 

Qantas will arrange accommodation, meals and transfers for you.

 

Full details of how to claim your reimbursement, including an online claim form will be available on qantas.com shortly. Please ensure you keep all receipts in order to make your claim.

 

The adjustment to flying schedules resulting from the grounding of Qantas services from 1700 AEDT Saturday 29 October 2011 may impact the travel arrangements of some Qantas customers.

 

For the latest flight status information please refer to the Flight Status.

 

The following commercial policy options are available to Qantas customers holding a valid Qantas (081) ticket issued on/before 29 October 2011 who are directly affected by schedule change activity (ie cancelled and retimed flights resulting from the grounding of Qantas services) for travel from 1700 AEDT 29 October 2011 up to and including 31 October 2011.

 

Passengers may, without fee:

 

Rebook to alternative Qantas flights (including QF Codeshare flights operated by BA).

Re-route travel

- Via the most direct routing using Qantas.

- Return to the origin port via the most direct routing using Qantas.

Change Destinations. The value of the existing ticket can be used towards the purchase of a new ticket. If the new fare is more expensive than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the passenger. Applicable surcharges, fees and taxes may apply.

Retain the value of the ticket in credit for future travel within 12 months from the original ticketed date of departure. If the new fare is more expensive than the existing ticketed fare, the fare difference is payable by the passenger. Applicable ticket surcharges, fees and taxes may apply.

Refunds

- For customers who have commenced their journey a full refund of the affected sector (s) will be available

- For customers who have not commenced their journey a full refund will be available

 

Conditions

 

Changes permitted to tickets issued on/before 29 October 2011 for travel from 1700 AEDT 29 October 2011 up to and including 31 October 2011.

All changes must be made prior to departure.

Changes permitted on the day of departure.

New travel dates must be within 12 months of original ticketed date of departure.

If the same booking class is not available, the lowest booking class within the same cabin may be booked (eg within Business or Economy cabin)

Any third party costs/penalties, such as hotel or other ground operator fees incurred will not be waived by Qantas.

All other rules and conditions of the ticket remain unchanged.

This policy also applies to customers who are booked on Codeshare flights operated by Qantas.

 

Un-ticketed bookings

 

For un-ticketed bookings, flights can be rebooked subject to availability and tickets issued in accordance with fare conditions.

 

Tickets validated to another carrier (non 081)

 

Rebook to alternative Qantas flights (including QF flights operated by BA)

Re-route travel

- via the most direct routing using Qantas

- Return to the origin port via the most direct routing using Qantas.

 

Refunds:

 

Refund are available, without fee, for Qantas (081) tickets issued on/before 29 October 2011 where original ticketed travel was between 1700 AEDT 29 October 2011 and 31 October 2011.

This excludes fees imposed by suppliers or third parties.

Refunds requests must be submitted no later than 31 January 2012.

 

Frequent Flyer Redemption Tickets

 

Passengers travelling on Qantas and Qantas code share operated by Jetstar Classic Award redemption tickets are entitled to the same options and conditions as listed above.

 

Note: Passengers on partner airline services are able to re-book or re-route subject to redemption seat availability only.

[KC Sim 2]

Qantas will immediately be saddled with the cost of putting passengers on other airlines, providing hotels / meals and transfers to those who are stranded ... and certainly parking idle aircraft at airports all around the world. But there will also be a cost to the damaged brand of Qantas. High yield and high net-worth passengers - the lifeline of any airline - are going to be avoid flying Qantas for a long time yet ... the sudden-ness of this grounding had not been anticipated and there is no guarantee that it will not happen again.

 

At this moment, there are two Airbus A380s (QF10 from London and QF9 that was supposed to go to London), two B747-400s (QF6 from Frankfurt and QF5 that was supposed to go to Frankfurt) and two A330-300s (one from Perth and one from Mumbai) stuck at Changi. The A380 operating QF32 due on Sunday morning has been cancelled ... along with all flights from elsewhere.

 

A pretty drastic move by Alan Joyce against a stubbornly unyielding labour movement ... and the only losers are the passengers who have been sacrificed.

 

KC Sim

[BC Tam 2]

Major issue in current dispute is so called 'asianisation' of Qantas

Maybe that is why no major decision/announcement on KUL or SIN based premium carrier to date

And that in turn has held up MH's planning for Sapphire

 

At this moment, there are two Airbus A380s (QF10 from London and QF9 that was supposed to go to London), .....

The one whose engine went bang, isn't it still at SIN ?

[KC Sim 2]

The Qantas A380 which suffered the engine failure over Batam - VH-OQA - is still in SIN, but as its grounding is unrelated to the latest Qantas' management's move (and is a grounding that has been in place for more than half a year), it is not counted alongside the aircraft that is currently grounded at Changi Airport.

 

While one can sympathise with QF's management as it faces Australia's well-known unions, it is also hard to understand its decision to increase Alan Joyce's pay package by 71 percent - all these against a backdrop of the airline's bleak future in international operations, deferrment of delivery involving six A380s, axing of 1000 jobs etc. It is even less easy to stomach the airline's latest action using passengers who have paid the airline for transportation service as a pawn in its fight with the union. What little sympathy the travelling public might have for QF's management must have simply evaporated. With flights on many carriers being quite full, I cannot imagine too many of the stranded passengers getting on alternative flights ... and with hotels in major cities such as HKG and SIN enjoying high occupancy, it is even more frustrating trying to find overnight accommodation for them.

 

Taking this course of action without warning was simply aimed at inconveniencing the maximum number of people as the management tries to shift the blame to the unions. I am not a big fan of unions that are incessantly demanding impossible wage increases, fringe benefits and often reduced working hours ... big I am also not a fan of a management that uses its customers as a human shield. Think of the thousands of families with elderly parents and young children stuck at airports around the world! A blanket grounding of the airlne of this nature respect not the extreme inconvenience posed to the weak and vulnerable among the airlne's customers ... I would have been more understanding if the QF management has warned that a week from this point in time, the airline will be grounded. That way, its customers could choose to already make alternative travel arrangements, choose to stay at home and defer non-essential travel ... or if they still choose to travel, at least they will have been more prepared to deal with the disruption.

 

This now is a case of two wrongs not making one right.

 

Besides airports all over Australia, I can just picture the mayhem and desperation at major Qantas hubs such as Los Angeles, London-Heathrow and Singapore ... places where QF have multiple flights daily and where alternative arrangements and accommodation are very costly. Right now, passengers stranded in BKK will surely face little difficulties securing hotel rooms ... except that they might be left "high and dry" trying to navigate the floodings to get to the hotel.

 

KC Sim

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

Looks like D7's capitalizing on QF's strike with this offer:

 

AirAsia X to rescue Qantas fliers with special fares

 

PETALING JAYA: Long haul budget airline AirAsia X has announced special fares for passengers affected by Qantas’ decision to ground its flights indefinitely.

 

“Anyone holding a valid Qantas ticket to any of our AirAsia X destinations in the next 48 hours can access our special one-way rescue fares of RM503,” said AirAsia X chief executive officer Azran Osman-Rani in a statement here yesterday.

 

He said passengers with valid Qantas tickets could purchase a seat (if available) at the special fare at any AirAsia X check-in or service counter, which opens three hours prior to flight departure.

 

AirAsia’s flights are not affected by Qantas’ decision and a check with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) also revealed it does not share flights with the Australian carrier under code-share agreements.

 

A check with the KL Internatio-nal Airport also confirmed that Qantas does not operate out of Malaysia.

 

At 2pm yesterday, Qantas grounded all its domestic and international flights in an unprecedented response against unions, amid unresolved disputes between both parties.

 

Announcing the action, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said all employees covered under the agreement currently in dispute would be locked out from Monday evening.

 

It is estimated that with more than 600 flights cancelled, at least 70,000 passengers worldwide will be affected.

 

Passengers who choose to cancel their flight will be able to get a full refund.

 

From The Star

[alberttky 0]

All these because of the too liberal Aussie legal system allowing strike actions. Try to do that in Singapore and see what happens?

[Mike P 0]

I wonder how many loses they could make... what a chaos. This only benefits the competitors.

[alberttky 0]

I wonder how many loses they could make... what a chaos. This only benefits the competitors.

 

And hotels and car rental companies.

[Mike P 0]

How are they going to win back customer ever? If I were the affected passenger, I will not opt for Qantas forever and ever.

[Lock SH 0]

It happened in late 80s when Ansett Australia went bust (could be due to labour dispute as well? ) and never surface again ........... Could the same thing happen to Qantas?

 

 

[Mohd Suhaimi Fariz 2]

It happened in late 80s when Ansett Australia went bust (could be due to labour dispute as well? ) and never surface again ........... Could the same thing happen to Qantas?

 

 

 

Actually Ansett went bust in 2001. And it's caused by competition with Virgin Blue, aging fleet and substantially overpaid staff. Very nearly led to Air New Zealand's downfall as well, since Ansett was a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.

[Isaac 0]

It happened in late 80s when Ansett Australia went bust (could be due to labour dispute as well? ) and never surface again ........... Could the same thing happen to Qantas?

 

 

I thought AN went bust in early 2000s ? Because i seem to remember still seeing news reporting on Bloomberg (NTV7 actually) about AN in early 2000s. NTV7 used to air Bloomberg news between 6am - 9am every weekdays in the early 2000s.

 

Actually Ansett went bust in 2001. And it's caused by competition with Virgin Blue, aging fleet and substantially overpaid staff. Very nearly led to Air New Zealand's downfall as well, since Ansett was a subsidiary of Air New Zealand.

Yeah, should be around that time. If my memory serves me correctly, their entire 767 fleets were grounded in early 2000s. Something about bad maintenance.

[KK Lee 5]

Qantas ordered to resume flights after tribunal ruling

 

An independent tribunal in Australia has ordered a permanent end to the industrial dispute that has grounded all Qantas flights.

 

Fair Work Australia issued its ruling after hearing evidence from the airline, unions and government at an emergency session in Melbourne.

 

Qantas had wanted the ruling and said it could resume flights within hours, but it has given no details as yet.

 

Nearly 70,000 people have been affected by flight cancellations in 22 nations.

 

Correspondents say the ruling is likely to be seen as a victory for Qantas, which has been seeking to end long-running disputes with three unions, and for the government, which wanted the damaging stand-off resolved quickly.

 

The row came to a head in August after the airline announced plans for restructuring and moving some operations to Asia.

 

Permanent end

 

The Fair Work Australia ruling said: "We have decided to terminate protected industrial action in relation to each of the proposed enterprise agreements immediately."

 

The ruling requires the unions to return to the negotiating table and come to an agreement within 21 days or face binding arbitration.

 

Fair Work Australia said its ruling had taken into account its concern for the vulnerability of the tourism industry.

 

Australia's government welcomed the decision, with Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten saying: "We are pleased that after 24 hours of turmoil, commonsense has been restored."

 

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce had warned it would only resume operations if the tribunal ordered a permanent end, rather than merely a suspension, of industrial action.

 

The unions had wanted a suspension for up to 120 days to allow talks.

 

Secretary of the ACTU union Jeff Lawrence said the ruling had made it clear that union action was not causing harm to the economy and that it was Qantas's actions that had brought the tribunal's intervention.

 

He said the ruling showed Qantas's decision to lockout its workers and ground aircraft was a disproportionate response to the unions' negotiating position.

 

The airline announced its decision to ground all flights on Saturday, saying it was a necessary reaction to industrial action that was costing A$15m ($16m) a week.

 

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard had earlier said the dispute between the airline and unions needed to be halted.

 

A government lawyer said the shutdown was costing the Australian economy "tens of millions" of dollars every hour.

 

Job losses

 

A Qantas statement on Saturday said all employees involved in industrial action would be locked out from Monday evening and flights grounded from 0600 GMT on Saturday.

 

The announcement came after months of wrangling between the airline's management and unions.

 

Relations started deteriorating in August after the airline announced plans for restructuring and moving some operations to Asia.

 

Qantas has a 65% share of the domestic Australian market, but has been making heavy losses on its international flights.

 

The restructuring is expected to mean the loss of 1,000 jobs from its 35,000-strong workforce.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15513219

[Kee Hooi Yen 0]

From crisis management point of view, perhaps Alan Joyce has made a right decision. Although they lost $20M per day from the grounding of the fleet, the damage to the airline may stil less if it could end the almost year long industrial action.

 

The Federal Government was asked to intervene the dispute a week before but they choose not not.

[Cire 0]

well, Qantas is set to fly again after the Aust.tribunal intervened.

 

I would have to agree too that A.Joyce's move is the correct one at this point of time. The sporadic guerrilla-like strikes by the unions will hurt more than a one time all out stoppages of work issued by Qantas's mgmt.

 

It is extremely crucial to act now by grounding the fleet to forced an intervention by the government, forced the workforce to re-think their actions and to hopefully come to an understanding now to some solutions and realisation, rather than having it happening near the season's holidays coming up. Its a matter of timing too, in this case.

 

Stand down or close down.