Thousands of QantasLink commuters in Western Australia have had their flight plans dashed as a result of a 24-hour pilot strike, including hundreds of fly-in fly-out workers at the big miners.
Network Aviation chief operating officer Trevor Worgan said the Australian Federation of Air Pilots had agreed to return to the negotiating table next week but it was too late to stop disruption to thousands of WA commuters’ travel plans.“It’s disappointing that they are continuing with their disruptive strike action, which has been timed to hurt travellers during the busy school holiday period,” he said.
BHP, Fortescue Metals Group and Rio Tinto were forced to find workarounds to charter their hundreds of FIFO miners to mines, including by cancelling non-essential travel. Network Aviation has offered immediate pay rises of 13 to 20 per cent in the first year, back-paid over the past 12 months, followed by an annual increase of 3 per cent a year and sign-on bonuses of $7000.
The pilots are covered by an enterprise agreement that expired three years ago and includes starting salaries of $175,000 for captains and $107,000 for first officers. However, the union says that when including allowances and other conditions pay had dropped below the award.