Who’ll blink first? The airline or the unions?
An ugly labor dispute between Australia’s QANTAS Airways and several unions from pilots on down became uglier. The issues include such cost-cutting measures as job-cutting, outsourcing and cancellation of orders for new Airbuses. Following strikes, stoppages and/or slowdowns, the airline has taken a hard line and grounded its fleet, CEO Alan Joyce informed the annual shareholders’ meeting. Click here for CNN’s report on Joyce’s surprise announcement and reactions.
The airline grounded its entire fleet on Saturday, prompting the embarrassed and outflanked government to ask a tribunal to step in to mediate, reportedly so as not to further put both the airline and the economy at risk. Airborne flights have naturally been permitted to land, but no aircraft are taking off anywhere in the world for either international or domestic flights. FWIW, Jetstar and QANTAS Link, QANTAS’s budget airlines, cargo service and JetConnect flights to the island of Tasmania are not affected — so far.
“They [the unions] are trashing our strategy and our brand. They are deliberately destabilizing the company. Customers are now fleeing from us,” complained Alan Joyce, as if the carrier’s reputation weren’t taking a hit from cancelling some 600 flights and stranding some 70,000 passengers were not detrimental to its reputation. The non-flying airline was reportedly losing some $24 million per day, though of course, it wasn’t paying to fuel and crew aircraft on the ground. Did it have to pay for parking at airports around the world?, I wonder.
If the labor tribunal orders an end to “the industrial action,” which could be defined as a strike, a lock-out or both, QANTAS should to start flying again. But when?
