A text message roused me from a deep sleep at 2.26am. It was AA’s deputy editor, Andrew McLaughlin. “QF has grounded its whole fleet immediately until unions withdraw claims!!!” It took a few moments for the importance of that message to penetrate my sleepy fog. “I’m dreaming that, right??” I messaged back. Then it clicked.
Less than 48 hours after Qantas CEO Alan Joyce grounded the airline on October 29, Qantas hopes to resume services this afternoon following a ruling by the Fair Work Australia authority late last night that all industrial action by unions and the planned lockout by the airline were to be terminated. Speaking to media this morning,
Etihad Airways has announced it will operate three Abu Dhabi-Bangkok-Sydney return services to help clear the passenger backlog on the route resulting from the Qantas dispute, if government regulatory approval is granted. The airline said the services will operate on November 1, 2 and 3. Announcing the additional services before Qantas announced its return to
After a marathon late night sitting, the full bench of Fair Work Australia has ordered that all Qantas industrial action be terminated, clearing the way for the airline to begin flying as soon as Monday afternoon. Fair Work ruled that the industrial campaign by three Qantas unions – the ALAEA, TWU and AIPA – and
Virgin Australia says it will add an additional 3000 seats on services between Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra and Mackay on October 31. The extra seats are in addition to ramped up services announced last week. Virgin also said it was working with Etihad to operate a 300-seat A340-600 on return services between Sydney
Brisbane-based Strategic Airlines has announced it will put on additional relief flights between Brisbane and Perth on October 30, and Brisbane and Melbourne on October 31 to try to assist passengers stranded by the Qantas mainline grounding. An A320 departed Perth at 1.15pm local time this afternoon and is expected in Brisbane at 7.45pm local
