Qantas dispute to drag on until June
QANTAS will have to wait at least another six months before it can put its damaging industrial dispute behind it because of a longer-than-expected period before a full bench of the industrial umpire hears a complex case between the airline and its long-haul pilots.
After recently putting the total cost at $194 million, the airline's chief executive, Alan Joyce, told analysts at a closed briefing yesterday that ''all the signs are that the damage [to the Qantas brand from the dispute and subsequent grounding of its fleet just over a month ago] is neither extensive nor permanent''.
Mr Joyce said he was confident that the outcome of binding arbitration before Fair Work Australia involving Qantas and three unions would be ''reasonable and will exclude the extreme claims that would have threatened our capacity to make the necessary transformation to our international business''.
But the airline will have to wait longer than thought before three commissioners from the industrial umpire hear its dispute with the Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents long-haul pilots.
A Fair Work hearing for the dispute involving the pilots has been set before three commissioners from June 4 to 8 in Sydney, and from June 12 to 15 in Melbourne. Qantas has to submit witness statements and expert evidence to the workplace umpire by March 19, while the pilots' union has to do likewise by April 30.
The hearing was expected to be held in May but is believed to have been delayed due to the dispute's complexity. The pilots are also running a case in the Federal Court challenging the industrial umpire's termination of its protected industrial action against Qantas.
The other two disputes to be referred to binding arbitration, involving licensed aircraft engineers and ground crews, are expected to be concluded before the pilots' case.
A full bench of Fair Work will hear the dispute between Qantas and the Transport Workers Union, which represents baggage handlers, in late March. Although the two sides are expected to resolve pay claims of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent, the main sticking point remains the TWU's job security claims.
The aircraft engineers are considered most likely to resolve the majority of their differences with Qantas. The two sides will meet before Fair Work next Monday.
Qantas has indicated it is hopeful of settling the dispute with the engineers as early as this month.
A Qantas spokesman said yesterday that the timing of the Fair Work hearings was ''of little consequence because the unions can't take any industrial action'' after the umpire terminated the dispute.
Qantas executives reiterated yesterday that talks were continuing about setting up an ultra-premium airline in south-east Asia.
