Qantas has been forced to ground planes and cancel flights due to an ongoing dispute with staff over pay and proposed restructuring.
The Australian carrier announced in August plans to cut 1,000 jobs in a bid to make the airline profitable.
The ongoing industrial action by long-haul pilots, engineers, baggage handlers and catering staff are beginning to hit home, said Alan Joyce, Qantas’ CEO Alan Joyce.
“This industrial action is clearly hurting Qantas and our brand,” said Joyce. “It is having an impact on our costs and on forward bookings.”
The airline expects some 60,000 passengers to have been affected by the end of this week.
Over the past month, Qantas’ on-time performace has fallen from 87% to 77% due to the ongoing industrial action.
Joyce accused the unions of “cynical” tactics, such as announcing a walk-out and calling it off at the last minute.
“Airlines are complex operations that can’t just be turned on and off,” he said, “and our customers’ travel plans can’t be turned on and off either.”
To minimise the impact Qantas is using bigger aircraft where needed and mobilising “contingency workforce”.
“Go slows” and overtime bans by maintenance staff have forced the airline to ground five of its planes used on domestic flights, resulting in the cancellation of 97 flights per week for the next month.
www.qantas.com