Court orders Qantas back in the air
October 31, 2011
An Australian arbitration court has ordered an end to the industrial dispute that saw Qantas Airways ground its entire fleet.
The carrier was ordered to begin flights and unions told to end their industrial action. Qantas said flights could resume as early as this afternoon.
CEO Alan Joyce said in a statement: “We will be getting our aircraft back up in the air as soon as we possibly can.”
The arbitration court had heard more than 14 hours of testimony from the airline, the Australian government and unions after the government called the emergency hearing.
Workers have held rolling strikes and refused overtime work for weeks out of worry that some of Qantas’s 35,000 jobs would be moved overseas in a restructuring plan.
The ruling marks a victory for Joyce, whose move to ground the fleet with no notice sparked criticism from Prime Minister Julia Gillard and union leaders.
Joyce is seeking to reverse losses at the Sydney-based carrier’s international operations by setting up new ventures overseas, while also cutting jobs in Australia.
Qantas is the largest of Australia’s four national domestic airlines, and the grounding affected 108 planes in 22 countries.
Joyce estimated the grounding was costing the carrier A$20 million (US$21m) a day.
