<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>335715</docID> <postdate>2024-12-20 06:48:31</postdate> <headline>Qantas braces for industrial turbulence</headline> <body><p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Jack Gramenz</strong> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Qantas has sought to reassure passengers industrial action by maintenance engineers will not impact the airline's flights in the lead-up to Christmas.</strong></p> <p>The airline says it has put contingencies in place for industrial action on Friday, and similar action from engineers earlier in December had no impact on customers.</p> <p>But unplanned maintenance issues, adverse weather, or other events could still impact operations, the airline said.</p> <p>"Our teams are working hard to ensure that this industrial action has minimal impact on customers' holiday plans and we have put a number of contingencies in place and extra resourcing on the ground to ensure our customers get away as planned," a Qantas spokesperson said in a statement.</p> <p>The airline said about 160 line maintenance engineers were rostered to work during Friday's industrial action.</p> <p>It said additional groups taking action were part of long-term maintenance teams that did not perform day-of-operation engineering support.</p> <p>The Australian Workers Union, part of the Qantas Engineers' Alliance, said engineers were striking again on social media, posting a picture of Qantas pyjamas accompanied by a card giving "a special thank you to our Qantas team for everything that you do".</p> <p>"Because instead of negotiating fair wages with their highly-skilled engineering workforce, Qantas reckons a pair of spare business-class pyjamas will pay the bills," the union said.</p> <p>The airline said it was offering engineers a competitive package including pay rises, upskilling and career progression enabling them to earn significantly more in the next few years.</p> <p>Industrial action has taken place since late September as part of ongoing negotiations but Qantas says it has managed the impact to avoid delays or cancellations for customers.</p> <p>"As corporate travel winds down for the year we have built more resilience into the operation this Friday, which will see predominantly Christmas holiday makers coming through airports," the airline said.</p> <p>"It's disappointing to see the unions targeting people travelling to see loved ones at this time of year."</p> <p>Additional crew aircraft and crew are on standby to help ensure a safe and smooth travel experience, Qantas said.</p> </body>