The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) has given Network Aviation (a Qantas Group airline operator based in Western Australia) notice of a 24-hour stoppage of all work this Thursday.
The pilot group has been attempting to negotiate a new enterprise agreement to replace the Network Aviation Pilots Enterprise Agreement 2016 (that expired on 31 Oct 2020) and will strike on 8 February for 24 hours.
The AFAP’s members at Network Aviation are employed by aircraft charter and passenger operator Network Aviation, which is a wholly owned Qantas subsidiary. In addition to passenger transport services (as QantasLink) Network Aviation conducts intrastate and fly-in, fly-out charter operations for the resources sector.
“Network pilots’ pay and conditions are significantly inferior to that of other pilots at Qantas and comparable airlines,” senior industrial officer, AFAP, Chris Aikens, said.
“The AFAP has been genuinely negotiating and trying to reach an agreement with Qantas management but the company remains unwilling to revisit its inflexible wages policy instituted under the former CEO.”
“With more than 90 per cent of Network pilots being AFAP members, the pilot group is highly engaged and keen to progress these negotiations towards conclusion.”
“We apologise for the disruptions this action will cause to the travelling public in Western Australia along with FIFO mining staff and other workers reliant on Network and QantasLink flights scheduled for Thursday.”
