Sydney, Australia (AHN) – Fair Work Australia (FWA) ordered Qantas on Monday to lift its unilateral grounding of its fleet and crew on Saturday, which disrupted the travel plans of 70,000 passengers.
The grounding of planes happened at a particularly busy weekend for Australians as the Commonwealth Head of Governments meeting ended in Perth on Saturday and residents prepare to hold the yearly Melbourne Cup this week.
The air carrier had lost $68 million over the past few weeks due to strikes held by unions representing baggage handlers, ground crew and catering staff, pilots, and aircraft engineers.
The FWA order bans the unions from any form of industrial action for the next 21 days and ordered the three unions and Qantas to return to the negotiating table. With the order, Qantas resumed its air services on Monday noon. A Qantas flight left Sydney Airport at 3:40 p.m. for Jakarta with 88 passengers.
Qantas said it expects to resume normal flight scheduled within the next 24 to 48 hours.
The labor row was over a plan by Qantas to outsource some of its services through the establishment of another budget service with a hub in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, and low wage hikes offered by the air carrier while giving Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce a $5 million annual compensation package.
Joyce, who said Qantas has new and current agreements with 12 unions and anticipates the conclusion of a deal with the remaining three unions, said the air carrier will respect the decision of FWA.
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