Qantas pilots warn of strike action over Asia plan
SYDNEY: Qantas pilots warned of strike action Tuesday as they slammed the airline's major shift of focus to Asia and accused it of "trashing" the Australian carrier's brand.
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), already in a bruising industrial row with Qantas, said they would do "everything we can" to stop the restructuring.
"We aren't announcing any specific changes to our industrial action plan today, (but) all options, including strike action, remain open and we will be considering them," an AIPA spokesman told AFP.
Some 1,700 long-haul Qantas pilots voted last month to take their first industrial action in 45 years over a contract dispute with the carrier about outsourcing to Asia and held out a two-day strike as a last resort.
But Qantas chief Alan Joyce Tuesday announced further shifts to Asia, saying the carrier would establish a new joint venture premium airline based there, with their partner and base location yet to be finalised.
It will also launch a budget carrier, Jetstar Japan, with Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi.
AIPA president Barry Jackson accused Joyce of trashing the Qantas brand and said pilots would not back down on their demands.
"(This) is exactly what Qantas pilots have been warning of for months: a shift of Australian Qantas operations into Asia to start employing people working to Asian conditions and standards," he said.
"Until we get an assurance from Alan Joyce that future Qantas flights will be operated by Qantas pilots -- instead of outsourced and offshored alternatives -- we will be doing everything we can to stop this destructive strategy for Qantas's future."
Jackson said the key strength of the Qantas brand was its culture of experience, training and safety, having never had a fatal crash in the jet age, and any reduction in standards in these areas would prove disastrous.
"After all, what is Qantas selling to Asia if not the world-leading reputation of its pilots and crew?" he said.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011
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