Qantas pushes ahead with Sunrise long-haul pilot vote

Qantas is pushing ahead with a pilot vote on its Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul plans despite an approach to Airbus to delay a firm order on up to 12 Airbus A350-1000s because of COVID-19. And it appears closer to a positive vote after a key union committee decided not to take action against the deal. The airline has side-stepped the Australian and International Pilots Association to put a vote on a new long-haul enterprise agreement directly to pilots. It has warned that a vote against its proposal would prompt it to seek outside pilots to fly Project Sunrise non-stop routes from Australia’s East Coast to destinations such as London and New York. READ: Qantas seeks Sunrise order delay from Airbus. AIPA has found itself considering the proposal in a climate that has seen the Qantas Group slash capacity and put the majority of its Airbus A380 superjumbos on the ground. And in a move which underscores its belief in ultra-long-haul routes, it has also suspended its flagship Sydney-Singapore-London route in favor of a second Sydney-Perth-London flight. Union officials have advised members that their best option is to vote for the agreement and its Committee of Management has told them to decide for themselves. Both are unhappy with the deal but believe that opposing it, particularly in the current circumstances, would have a limited chance of success. AIPA president Mark Sedgwick said the reduction in international capacity was a seismic shift in the flying program that would have a considerable effect on the airline throughout the rest of the year. He said that given the rapidly changing economic climate, he was not of the view that a delay in the vote would result in better outcomes for members. He said the CoM believed a challenge to the Qantas voting timeline would have low prospects of success and viewed the threat to outsource the Project Sunrise flying as credible. “The Association has reviewed the implications for a negative vote and even the CoM, whilst not satisfied as a majority with the offer, could not recommend this to you as a credible option after a long debate,’’ AIPA president Mark Sedgwick said in a note Wednesday. A note from the CoM said the Qantas package was found to be unsatisfactory. “However, given the threat of outsourcing that Qantas has made to its pilots, the CoM decided that due to the unprecedented nature of this situation, that the pilots should view and assess the offer themselves with due regard to the threat and current circumstances.,’’ it said. “It should be reiterated again that we are appalled by the industrial tactics that have been employed by the company during these negotiations. “We believe the best outcome for Qantas, its shareholders and its employees is always, a negotiated outcome.” The company confirmed it would push ahead with the vote.