Qantas pilots have been urged by two senior union officials to avoid dividing their ranks by accepting a deal that will pave the way for Project Sunrise ultra-long-haul flying.
The call by Australian and International Pilots Association president Mark Sedgwick and vice president Brad Hodson comes as Qantas is poised to ask pilots a vote on a long-haul enterprise deal that contains provisions it says it needs to make Project Sunrise viable.
It also comes as elements in AIPA are apparently divided on their response to the company strategy.
The airline has warned the pilots it intends to proceed with Sunrise regardless of the vote and that it will bring in outside pilots to form a separate workforce to do the ultra-long-haul flying if they reject the deal.
The airline has until the end of March to order Airbus A350-1000s that will operate the Project Sunrise routes between Australia’s east coast and destinations such as London and New York.
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Qantas announced in December it would order up to 12 A350-1000s for Project Sunrise after a hard-fought competition between the Airbus plane and the Boeing 777X.
Airbus agreed to extend the deadline for booking production slots from February to the end of this month but told Qantas it could not keep the slots open beyond March 31.
The pilots are not happy with the deal but Hodson argued in a March 5 note that they were better off accepting the proposal and remaining united than trying to fight it.
“The current situation long haul pilots find themselves in, is invidious,’’ Hodson said.
“You can accept an inferior deal and stay united or roll the dice and fight the outsourcing threat.
“The latter option in my view has very significant downside risks and poor prospects of success.”
Hodson based his decision on more than a decade of dealing with industrial issues at Qantas and his familiarity with Australian legislation covering industrial relations, the Fair Work Act.
He said that, like all pilots, he was disgusted with the threat to outsource A350 flying and noted it had left the relationship between the airline and its pilots “simply toxic”
But he argued Qantas had successfully outsourced work in just about every other union and the pilots’ long-haul agreement, one of the few remaining intact, was the one management arguably wanted to change the most.
Iin my view, their threat is real and their track record suggests they will throw substantial money at it if required,’’ Hodson said.
“As to what an outsourced A350 agreement may look like, I think it will look way more like the Jetstar wide-body terms and conditions with more dollars than the current offer on the table.
“I am very confident that an outsourced A350 will not contain the vast majority of protections we currently have in LH (long-haul)”
Hodson said the pilots were faced with two paths they did not really like.
“I understand the disgust and willingness to fight,” he said. “I am of the view that the best way to fight this is to stay in the tent, accept the deal, stay united and give the pilot body the opportunity to find a better way sometime in the future.”
In a signs there is a push by some elements in the union to mount a legal camapign against Qantas, Sedgwick ruled out “a populist legal campaign that may have a low probablity of success” under his leadership.
Describing it as divisive time at AIPA, he said he had been attempting to gain consensus in union’s committee of management but could not wait any longer to make his views known.
AirlineRatings understands a recent shake-up in the CoM has seen it taken over by pilots frustrated with the direction of the union’s leadership.
Sedgwick’s advice was along similar lines to Hodson’s and he described it as an informed opinion “based on numerous expert aviation and IR advices and my industrial knowledge”.
He echoed Hodson’s comments that the union was extremely unhappy with the current circumstances and that the Qantas threat had caused long-term damage to the airline and its relationship with its pilots.
“AIPA has run a firm industrial campaign for our members to the point where Qantas has now had to use these tactics to put a deal to you,” he said.
“This has been the wrong approach from them, but it is a reality of the modern corporate and industrial environment.
“What is now on offer by Qantas represents the best terms and conditions for the A350 aircraft.
“There are some elements of the offer which our bargaining representatives have both shaped and achieved.
“To that end, do not vote No when the time comes just to spite the process, or to spite your employer or to protest to the individuals involved.
“It would in my view become a regrettable outcome. You should assess the deal on its merits and on your appetite for risk.In my opinion you should save the anger for another day and if necessary, for another opportunity.”
Qantas says it is putting a good deal to pilots which includes pay increases and promotional opportunities without negatively impacting their take-home pay.
But pilots are unhappy with the agreement, including sections relating to the use of second officers and what they are paid.
They also have concerns about the airline’s recently-approved Fatigue Risk Management System, although this would need to be reviewed by the regulator before it could be applied to Sunrise operations.
