AFAP Qantas Short Haul EA Update No. 1
Yesterday (Tuesday 10 October 2023) we held our first Qantas Short Haul Enterprise Agreement (EA) Bargaining meeting in Sydney. AFAP Executive Director, Simon Lutton met with the company’s Qantas Short Haul Bargaining Team of Andrew Coull, Doug Alley, Jim Morton, Karl Romberg-Yee and Rebecca Franklin.
Being the first meeting with the AFAP, it was a relatively short and primarily administrative meeting. Simon Lutton explained the AFAP structure and processes including that the AFAP Qantas Pilot Council Committee has now been filled with four Qantas pilot members. It is expected that the names of the newly elected pilots will be confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) later this week.
This new AFAP Qantas Pilot Council Committee will finalise/approve the Qantas Short Haul EA survey of AFAP members at Qantas and appoint the members of the AFAP Short Haul Negotiating Team.
It was tentatively agreed that the next meeting be scheduled for November, after the survey is completed and the AFAP pilot negotiating team has been confirmed.
Andrew Coull provided an informative overview of upcoming aircraft deliveries, the aircraft retirement schedule and subsequent recruitment and training movements across Qantas. Of note, Andrew Coull detailed the updated delivery schedule of the A321-XLR as being:
- 3 x aircraft in FY2025;
- 9 x aircraft in FY2026; and
- 8 x aircraft in FY2027.
He also detailed the B737 retirement schedule of the current 75 x B737 aircraft as approximately 7 aircraft per year over 10 years beginning in calendar year 2025.
When asked if guarantees of further aircraft would form part of this negotiation the Qantas team responded “no” as they believe they have already achieved the efficiencies they need to operate the A321 aircraft as part of the recent variation to the current (nominally expired) agreement.
Simon Lutton then asked the Qantas IR representatives present two key questions.
The first question was:
Does the Qantas Wages policy apply to the Qantas Short Haul Agreement negotiation and, if so, exactly what does this mean in practice?
Qantas IR confirmed that the Qantas Wages Policy does apply to the negotiation of the Qantas Short Haul Agreement and this means that all Short Haul pilots will be subject to a two-year wage freeze before salary increases of 3%. Qantas IR also confirmed that Short Haul pilots would be eligible for the $5000 recovery boost payment providing an agreement is reached within 9 months of the expiry of the current agreement (which expired on 30 August 2023) and all other eligibility conditions are met, such as the pilots do “not cause harm” to the business.
It is noteworthy that based on recent remuneration and bonus announcements that Qantas Executives and Board members do not seem bound by the Qantas Wages Policy.
The second question was:
Will Qantas recognise the efficiencies that were provided in the recent Short Haul Agreement variation (such as the removal of various work rules and the geographic box in exchange for an undertaking to provide the first 20 x A321-XLR replacement aircraft) in this agreement negotiation?
The answer to this question was a simple No. Qantas IR does not intend to recognise any of the efficiencies agreed as part of the recent variation in this negotiation for a replacement Qantas Short Haul EA.
While the above responses are disappointing given the changed environment of high inflation and increased pilot demand, they were not surprising to the AFAP.
We will keep you updated of developments. Expect to see confirmation of the names of the pilots for the new AFAP Qantas Pilot Council Committee very soon followed by a detailed survey and confirmation of the negotiating team and next meeting.
If you have any questions please contact the AFAP via admin@afap.org.au or 03 9928 5737. Alternatively, you can contact the AFAP Executive Director, Simon Lutton, directly via simon@afap.org.au or mobile 0419 482 582.
Yours sincerely
Simon Lutton, Pat Larkins, Chris Aikens
AFAP Qantas Council Industrial/Legal Staff
Australian Federation of Air Pilots