Qantas engineers to strike during peak-hour flight period as travellers prepare for delays

Qantas workers are set to escalate industrial action as aircraft-towing engineers prepare to walk off the job during peak-hour flights to secure better pay.

More than 1000 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 will “likely be affected”, the Qantas Engineers’ Alliance said in a statement on Sunday.

Qantas said several days of industrial action had not affected passengers, including those travelling to the AFL grand final.

“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 Electrical Trades Union.

AWU national secretary Paul Farrow said the union did not want to delay passengers but had no choice.

“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 1100 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 $1.25 billion in the 2023/24 financial year, down 28 per cent from the previous year.