Qantas has reinstated flights that it planned to cancel during its morning peak on Thursday after the licensed aircraft engineers union delayed its planned strike action.
A Qantas spokesman, quoted by Fairfax newspapers, said that it had been informed by the union that its 1600 engineers would now not be stopping work for an hour tomorrow between 8am and 9am.
Earlier Qantas announced that it would cancel 31 flights and delay another 46 services across the country tomorrow, blaming it on the planned hour-long stoppage by the engineers.
The cancelled flights would have affected about 2500 passengers.
Qantas said the engineers still planned to take industrial action on Monday and Tuesday.
Earlier, Qantas pilots put the company on notice, giving management seven days to present a solution to their calls for job security.
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) said it had “drawn a line in the sand” because Qantas management was not negotiating seriously.
It said if Qantas did not signal a change of intent by close of business on Thursday next week, the union would take the first steps towards protected industrial action.
“Qantas management has had our claims since October last year,” APIA president Barry Jackson said.
“What AIPA is asking for is very straightforward. If it’s a Qantas flight it should be operated by a Qantas pilot. It’s that simple.”
