Qantas flight delays as workers walk off the job

Qantas workers are set to escalate industrial action as aircraft-towing engineers prepare to walk off the job during peak-hour flights to pressure the airline into paying higher wages.

More than 1,000 engineers will stage walkouts on Monday as union members push for a 15 per cent pay rise in the first year of a new enterprise agreement, followed by five per cent increases in subsequent years.

Flights between 7am and 9am at major airports in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth were those set to be impacted, the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said in a statement on Sunday.

However Qantas said several days of industrial action had not affected passengers, including those who travelled to the AFL grand final, and it would be able to cover Monday’s action too.

‘Over the past four days, we have seen no disruptions to our network as a result of the industrial action from some of our engineering workgroups,’ a Qantas spokesperson said on Sunday.

‘We have contingencies in place and don’t expect Monday’s planned strike action to have an impact on customers, or their travel plans.’

The alliance comprises workers represented by the Australian Workers Union, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Electrical Trades Union.

Qantas passengers are pictured at the domestic terminal in Sydney Airport

AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said the union did not want to delay passengers but the interests of its members came first.

‘I know that there wouldn’t be a single engineer relishing the idea of delaying passengers,’ he said.

‘As a former aircraft engineer myself, I know there is real pride in getting people where they need to go safely. But management has backed them into a corner.’

About 1,100 aircraft maintenance workers, which is about 45 per cent of the airline’s engineers, are covered by the agreement under negotiation.

Workers have been in negotiations since April, while their enterprise agreement expired at the end of June.

Qantas made a net profit of $1.25billion in the 2023/24 financial year, down 28 per cent from the previous year.