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Qantas short-haul pilots have narrowly approved a deal that froze wages for the first two years but will guarantee payments for cancelled flights.
Around 60 per cent of pilots voted for the new agreement, which will increase pay by 9 per cent over the next three years and include measures on reserve pay, higher minimum guaranteed hour payment, and a minimum duty period credit of 60 per cent for any duty worked.
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Pilots will receive no wage increase from 2023 and 2024, with pay to increase by 3 per cent per year in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Additionally, pilots will now be guaranteed pay if flights are changed or disrupted from two calendar days before a pattern commencing until the end of the pattern.
The previous enterprise agreement (EA) expired in 2023, and the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents the majority of Qantas Group pilots, estimates the new deal will boost remuneration by 25 per cent over the five-year term.
It ends two years of wrangling over the deal, with pilots last October voting down a proposed agreement over wage freezes.
“This agreement has taken a long time to reach because both sides recognised the need to improve pilot pay but Qantas blindly refused to drop its arbitrary wage freeze policy,” AIPA president, Captain Andrew Marshall, said.
“The upside is that we have been able to achieve long-sought changes to the contract which shift the financial risk associated with the dynamic nature of the operation from the pilots back to the company.”
First officers, who are paid less than captains, will receive the biggest wage increases under the new agreement, said Captain Steve Cornell, AIPA’s vice president of short haul, who was part of the union’s negotiating team.
“It now falls to Qantas to implement the structural changes contained within this new agreement in a timely manner,” he said.
“Doing so will be a tangible demonstration of their commitment to improving the relationship and rebuilding trust between management and the pilot group.”
In a statement, Qantas chief pilot Richard Tobiano said the Flying Kangaroo welcomes the deal with its short-haul pilots, who operate its 737 fleet on domestic and regional international flights and will also operate the new A321XLR when it begins arriving this year.
“We’re pleased to reach an agreement with our short-haul pilots that addresses ongoing feedback around pay and rostering while providing a sustainable future for our business.
“The new agreement has been the result of more than 18 months of negotiations, and I’d like to thank our pilots and their bargaining representatives for all the time and effort they’ve put in.”
Negotiations over a new EA for long-haul pilots are ongoing.
