Qantas Flights Back to Normal After Chaos

After two days of chaos that left thousands of travellers high and dry around the world, Qantas Airways says its flight schedule is back to normal on Tuesday morning. There are also reports of airline slashing down airfares.

Qantas Airways says its flights were back to normal on Tuesday after the airline grounded its entire fleet on Saturday to counter the continuing strikes that have been marring the company for past few months now.

Qantas said all of its flights were operating on time and as scheduled. The airline said that the backlog of travellers caused as a result of fleet grounding is likely to be cleared by Tuesday afternoon.

In a completely unexpected and startling move, Qantas Airways had grounded all its flights on Saturday to create a scene of chaos at airports all over the world. Australia’s flag carrier took the step as a response to a string of strikes by unions representing pilots, aircraft mechanics, baggage handlers and caterers.

Heaps of passengers - be it budget travellers with cheap flight tickets or passengers with first class tickets - were subjected to alarm and turmoil as every Qantas flight was off the schedule.

Confusion and panic ruled the roost for some 48 hours before an Australian court put an end to 48 hours of travel chaos. The arbitration court ordered to put an end to the strikes and also ordered to call off the staff lockout by the airline. The court has provided the warring parties 21 days to settle their differences and reach for an agreement. And if they fail to do so then they will be forced into a mandatory arbitration.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce advocated his move to ground the flights.

“I'll make whatever tough decisions are needed to be made in order to ensure the survival of this great company,” Alan Joyce was quoted as stating in various news portals.

Incessant union strikes have caused the cancellation of 600 Qantas flights in past few months. This has adversely impacted nearly 70,000 customers and has cost Qantas Airways 70 million Australian dollars ($75 million).

Qantas Airways is said to have infuriated union workers when it stated in August that it hopes to improve its unprofitable overseas business by starting an Asia-based airline with its own name and brand. The five-year restructure plan will cost 1,000 jobs.

Qantas Airways Will Reduce Airfares: Reports

Reports are doing the rounds that Qantas Airways, one of the world’s largest airlines, will start doling out promotional enticements to attract travellers. There is no denying the fact that the airline’s reputation and brand image has taken a grand beating during the last few months of unending industrial action which culminated with airline grounding all of its flights. If reports are to be believed then the airline will offer cheap flight tickets to entice travellers. Certain other plans are also being formulated to tempt passengers during the peak travel holiday season of Christmas.

It will surely require an effort to bring back the lost business for Qantas Airways.

Qantas Strikes to Impact 10,000 passengers on Friday

More than 10,000 passengers are to be affected as Qantas Airways cancels 70 flights amid another series of strikes by its ground workers. Qantas says the rolling strikes have cost the airline A$68 million so far.

Qantas Airways cancels 70 flights as the ground workers at airports all across the country decide to go on a strike.

The cancellation of 70 Qantas flights will affect more than more than 10,000 passengers on Friday.

If one looks at the cumulative figure of passengers who have been affected by the recent months of industrial action at Qantas Airways, then the number hovers around at a staggering 70,000! Past few months have indeed been quite troublesome for Australia’s national carrier with months of strikes by unions representing aircraft pilots, mechanics, baggage handlers and caterers.

Unions have apprehensions regarding the airline’s plans to move jobs offshore. Pay and work conditions are some other concerns of the unions.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce urges unions to put “more realistic” demands on the negotiation table.

“We urge the unions to stop this, to put to the table more realistic demands and to think about the jobs they're endangering around the country," he told the Nine Network.

"We've always said we want to do anything that will stop this disruption happening to our passengers - again I apologise to those customers that have been impacted by this."

On the other hand, unions questioned the ‘fat pay cheques’ of the management. "Engineers, like many other employees at Qantas, can't understand why plans to offshore jobs and sack 1000 people are being rewarded with cash bonuses and fat pay cheques to the CEO and management," Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA)’s federal secretary, Steve Purvinas was quoted by news websites.

Qantas Says Strikes Have Cost A$68 million

The protracted labour dispute has cost Qantas A$68 million so far. The airline is loosing a further A$15 million per week in revenues. The situation has become really serious for the airline with a massive decline in the advance bookings on carrier’s flights.

With the peak holiday travel season of Christmas drawing near, travellers are getting wary of booking with Qantas Airways. Especially, travellers who make advance bookings in order to net cheap flight tickets are apprehensive as no one with cheap flight tickets would like to face a cancellation at the time of journey.

Qantas said that the industrial action, taken up by the engineers', pilots' and Transport Workers' unions, has cost the airline more than the Chilean volcanic ash cloud.

"This drawn-out and co-ordinated industrial campaign by these three unions is now having a major impact on Qantas," Joyce said in a statement on Friday.

"$68 million is a significant impact on the company and the costs will continue to rise."

"In comparison, the impact on Qantas from grounding aircraft during the recent volcanic ash cloud was $49 million."