Qantas pilots who fly workers to remote mines in Western Australia have vowed to extend their industrial action and add a third day to their planned strike this week.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots has confirmed that pilots working for Qantas subsidiary Network Aviation and QantasLink will stop working from Wednesday to Friday.
Network Aviation operates more than 300 flights per week, including scheduled services from Perth Airport and charter flights for fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) miners, corporates and emergency flights.
It is the latest step in a long-running pay dispute between the national airline and the AFAP union.
Pilots were forced off work for 24 hours last Thursday, causing 35 Network Aviation flights to be canceled.
ilots working for Qantas subsidiary Network Aviation and QantasLink have pledged to strike from Wednesday to Friday due to stalled wage negotiations with the national carrier
The action was taken after Qantas announced a “stubborn negotiation request” to the commission following 18 months of failed negotiations.
Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens said on Monday that pilots had “no choice” but to extend their strike.
“Qantas management has angered our network members by walking away from negotiations and taking previously agreed items off the negotiating table last week,” Mr Aikens said.
“Our members deeply regret having to take this protected industrial action, but have no other choice.”
Qantas Group said it was “disappointed” that a third day of strike action would be added and is working to minimize the impact on affected customers.
“We are reviewing timetables and planning contingencies to ensure our customers can get where they need to go,” a spokeswoman said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Qantas for comment.
The airline explained that it will contact affected customers who can request a refund or make changes to their flights free of charge.
Qantas Group was forced to rebook travelers on Jetstar, Qantas and charter flights on Thursday after Network Aviation canceled 35 flights due to a 24-hour pilot strike.
About 95 percent of regular customers and about 70 percent of charter flights were able to board the plane.
The pilots’ federation previously said Network Aviation had “walked away from the negotiating table” and its members had no choice but to strike.
The pilots’ union has been trying for 18 months to negotiate an enterprise agreement for the pilots with Qantas Group to replace their previous pay agreement, which expired in 2020.
“Qantas can easily resolve this by recognizing that network pilots only want to achieve employment terms and conditions that are common among Qantas pilots and in the airline industry generally,” Aikens said.
“We remain eager and willing to engage with company management to achieve some improvements in the conditions for the lowest-paid jet pilots.”
Network Aviation said its pilots had previously been offered and rejected pay increases of more than 25 percent, plus annual increases of three percent, new entitlements and greater roster protections.
The union denied the claim.
The airline made a persistent plea to the Fair Work Commission for negotiations on Monday to help broker a new enterprise agreement with its pilots to break the impasse.
A meeting between the parties is planned for Friday.
Network Aviation pilots were forced to walk off the job for 24 hours in early October due to pay negotiations, canceling more than 40 flights to and from regional cities and mining sites.
The airline, which is wholly owned by Qantas, is WA’s premier charter operator for the mining sector, operating hundreds of flights per week.
The company also employs local pilots for the airline’s QantasLink regional arm. More than 90 percent of the more than 250 pilots are members of the pilot federation.