QANTAS Mainline Council

Qantas Mainline Pilot Council

Three AFAP members who are also long-serving Qantas Mainline pilots have come forward to volunteer as representatives for the inaugural AFAP Qantas Mainline Council Committee.

We have already held a number of informal meetings with these pilots and commenced work and planning on how best to represent our Qantas Mainline members.

A further call for nominations, to be coordinated through the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), is expected later this year at which time these pilots have indicated their intention to formally nominate.

Once formally confirmed by the AEC and the Fair Work Commission (FWC) as elected members of the AFAP Qantas Mainline Council Committee, these pilots will enjoy all the protections provided to workplace representatives under the Fair Work Act and receive all the rights provided under the AFAP's Rules to its elected officials.

Under our Rules, the Qantas Mainline Pilot Council is one of ten Pilot Councils within the AFAP’s federated structure. Like the other AFAP pilot councils it maintains full autonomy and control of its own affairs. It also has a say (and a certain number of votes depending on membership size) on matters that effect the broader industry. These industry-wide matters are discussed, and ideas shared, at regular meetings of our Executive Committee and at the Annual Convention.

Another significant development is that we have formally written to Qantas requesting they arrange for the payroll deduction of AFAP membership fees for those AFAP Qantas Mainline pilot members who wish to pay their fees via this facility.

We noted that the AFAP currently has payroll deduction arrangements with numerous other employers, including employers within the Qantas group. We also understand that Qantas provides the option of payroll deduction for members of other unions at Qantas Mainline.

The AFAP is keenly awaiting formal confirmation that Qantas will provide payroll deduction facilities for AFAP members.

We expect this will be a formality but realise it may take some time to establish the appropriate billing details and remittance arrangements with Qantas payroll.

On this basis we intend to set a conservative date for later this year at which time the payroll facility will commence. In the meantime, we are still encouraging any Qantas Mainline pilot who want to join via payroll deduction to do so even though the facility will not commence until later in the year.

Short-Haul EA Negotiations

The commencement of negotiations for a replacement agreement to the Short Haul Agreement which nominally expires on 31 August 2023 is imminent.

At the time of writing this article Qantas had not yet issued a Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR). This means that formal negotiations have not yet commenced.

We are expecting that they will commence shortly and, working in consultation with the Qantas pilots who have volunteered to form the first AFAP Qantas Mainline Council Committee (as detailed above), we have started work on developing a survey of members and selecting an appropriate Short Haul negotiating team.

Members will well remember that early last year Qantas pushed through a variation to the Qantas Short Haul Pilots Agreement to provide for the A320 family of aircraft under what Qantas called Project Winton.

In summary, Qantas required various changes and concessions to rostering and other clauses within the existing Qantas Short-Haul Pilots Agreement in order to guarantee the first 20 of the A321-XLR aircraft as replacement aircraft for the existing B737 fleet.

Qantas also required these changes to conditions without providing any compensating benefits or improvements.

While no compensating benefits were provided under the proposed variation there was however a very explicit threat from Qantas that if the variation was not “voted up” they would explore giving the aircraft to other pilot groups.

Fast forward a year and the industrial environment is significantly different with high demand for pilots and even higher rates of inflation.

What may not be different is Qantas’s dogged commitment to its wage policy and the need for all groups to take a wage freeze. The AFAP has shown a willingness to explore all lawful options in support of an agreement and the ability to successfully navigate a difficult industrial landscape, as shown by the most recent Jetstar Pilots’ Agreement. The Short Haul negotiation is shaping up as a similar challenge.

Long-Haul EA Negotiations

AFAP Qantas Mainline Council Committee pilot representatives and the AFAP industrial and legal teams have also begun planning for the Long Haul negotiations which are expected to commence later this year.

The current Long Haul Enteprise Agreement (EA), as Qantas Pilots are all too aware, was voted up under the threat of outsourcing the A350 to a new entity.

Again, the process will be to establish a Long Haul negotiating committee and then survey members and develop claims for the negotiation.

At Long Haul the AFAP has also been watching with interest the A380 direct-entry Second Officer Training dispute. The matter is in the Federal Court and turns primarily on whether the refusal to agree to direct entry Second Officers on the A380 is reasonable. If not, the avenue available to Qantas is the Long Haul EA bypass pay provisions.

What's Next?

The negotiations at both Short Haul and Long Haul are shaping as pivotal points in the industrial history of Qantas Mainline. The cloud hanging over both these negotiations is the use of threats by Qantas (to the job security and career progression of Qantas Mainline pilots) in the preceding negotiations to achieve its productivity objectives.

The AFAP has a growing number of Qantas Mainline pilots joining or enquiring about joining the AFAP. This support is welcomed as increased membership numbers will improve our role and bargaining power in the upcoming negotiations.

Any member interested in Qantas Mainline developments or Qantas Mainline pilot interested in AFAP membership are welcome to contact AFAP Chief Executive Simon Lutton ( simon@afap.org.au ), Melbourne-based Senior Industrial/Legal Officer Pat Larkins (patrick@afap.org.au), or Brisbane-based Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens (chris@afap.org.au).