Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697639126048.pdf (Australia)
The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission This is the first time in Qantas’ history that it has sought to terminate an enterprise agreement.

It followed an intensive period of bargaining for a new agreement that ended in a deadlock.
With international flying ramping up from February 2022 and the emphatic rejection of our best offer, we were out of time to secure the flexibility necessary to restart our international network through the bargaining process.

An application for termination may be made by an employee or employer.

Indeed, since 2020 the number of contested termination proceedings before the Fair Work Commission has been evenly split between employee- and employer-initiated applications.
The commencement of termination proceedings by either an employee or an employer is not industrial bullying.

Applicants must satisfy the Fair Work Commission that the termination of the enterprise agreement is both appropriate and not contrary to the public interest, significant hurdles that prevent the misuse of the termination provisions.
The termination proceedings brought by Qantas reflect the profound impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on our business, and the changes necessary to effectively restart our international network.

The FAAA responded to the application with a number of misleading claims regarding Qantas’ approach to bargaining and the proposed enterprise agreement.

Copies of Qantas’ responses to these claims (both in the public arena and directly to our crew) are attached.
Health and Safety The safety, health and wellbeing of our people and operation remains at the core of everything we do and has been an acute focus during the unique challenges of the pandemic.

Any suggestion that this is not the case is entirely misplaced.

Each Qantas Group business maintains integrated management systems that satisfy safety, health, security and environmental legislative and regulatory requirements.
We’re focused on creating a healthy, safe and secure workplace by preventing injuries, illness, accidents and incidents through effective safety management systems and risk controls, quality processes and a strong safety culture.

Our safety and security activities are supported by robust governance processes to ensure performance and risks are monitored.

We encourage our people to report safety and security-related matters, even when they are closely involved and might feel vulnerable to criticism.
This is supported by policies and procedures to ensure our people are treated fairly under what is known as ‘just culture’.

Further detail of our approach to safety can be found here.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Qantas Group has implemented measures to address the impact of COVID-19 on our people.

For our cabin crew, an operational management program prescribing controls to manage risks in-flight and while away from home was introduced, based on best practice and industry guidance.
With the oversight of Qantas Medical, controls are implemented based on COVID transmission risk and address the provision of cabin items, service specifications, aircraft cleaning, blocking of seats to maintain distancing, COVID vaccination and testing requirements, the use of personal protective equipment and procedural changes to minimise interactions between crew and passengers.
It is not practical in this letter to detail every initiative that the Qantas Group has implemented to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of our people.

As two examples, however, since March 2020 for our cabin crew we have made more than 6,800 calls to crew (many of these dedicated to welfare) and conducted more than 200 webinars which included a focus on health, safety and wellbeing.
When we became aware of the FAAA’s survey that raised a series of health and safety concerns, Qantas sought immediate clarification of the survey methodology, the questions put to recipients and the results in order to identify any shortcomings in the comprehensive suite of measures in place.
The FAAA did not 2 The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission engage constructively with Qantas in response to this request, suggesting the survey was not a serious attempt to engage with these issues.

Qantas remains willing, as always, to engage constructively with the FAAA on any matter relating to the safety, health and wellbeing of our people.
We would be pleased to provide the Committee with any further information it requires.
Yours sincerely, Andrew Finch General Counsel and Group Executive Office of the CEO 3 The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission QANTAS RESPONDS TO CLAIMS FROM THE FAAA AND TWU 7 February 2022 On 20 January 2022, Qantas International applied to the Fair Work Commission to terminate its Long Haul Cabin Crew agreement as a last resort to change restrictive and outdated rostering processes.
Since then, there have been a number of misleading claims made by unions about Qantas’ approach to bargaining and the new agreement that we put to crew in December.

This page clarifies a number of these claims and will be refreshed as required.

UNION CLAIM #1 – Qantas didn’t have to apply to terminate the current agreement because the FAAA had agreed to 90 per cent of Qantas’ demands and was willing to return to the bargaining table.

FACT – This is simply not true.


During bargaining, the only one of our 4 key claims that the FAAA indicated it was prepared to agree to was meal allowances (which provided for increased allowance payments for crew).

We were a long way from agreement on other core issues, including rostering, reserve days, and wage outcomes.

They also continued to press claims that we could never agree to, even outside of a COVID environment such as substantial reductions in productivity and flexibility.
Closing the gap on these issues to the FAAA’s satisfaction would have increased costs and further reduced the flexibility we need.

We explained this over and over during six months of bargaining.

If the FAAA is right – and we were so close to an agreement – why do they remain so critical of the deal?

And why didn’t they tell their members they thought we were close to an agreement at the time the proposed agreement was put out to vote?
UNION CLAIM #2 – Qantas celebrate the work of international crew for repatriation flights on the one hand, and then try to cut their conditions on the other.

FACT – We know our international cabin crew are great at what they do, and have gone above and beyond with repatriation flights at the height of the pandemic.

The amazing service our crew provide doesn't change the fact that the pandemic has fundamentally changed the aviation industry and the way we need to operate.
The changes we’re seeking are about getting the flexibility we desperately need to properly restart our international operations – in particular, the ability to roster all crew across all types of long haul aircraft.

This has nothing to do with the performance of our crew.

It’s clear what the aviation industry, and what Qantas, has gone through in the past two years, and what we’re still dealing with.
We’ve literally lost billions of dollars through this The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission pandemic.

It’s not surprising we’re asking crew for their help in the form of more flexibility but it’s disappointing that the union is still demanding things we just can’t give.
UNION CLAIM #3 – Qantas is trying to cut wages by up to 60 per cent for employees FACT – It’s disingenuous to say that Qantas wants to cut pay and conditions, given we put a four year deal on the table that offered more than 6 per cent pay increase and higher allowances.

Unfortunately, the process we’re now going through doesn’t let us pick and choose which bits of the current agreement are terminated in order to get the crucial rostering flexibility we desperately need.
Termination of the agreement would see crew revert to the modern award, which is the safety net for the industry, while a new agreement is negotiated.

We’ve said that we’re open to putting the same deal that was rejected back on the table, but that would require a change of heart from a union that has continually misrepresented the facts.

UNION CLAIM #4 – The modern award will impact safety by making crew work longer hours and have shorter rest periods.

FACT – This is scaremongering by the union.


Safety is always our number one priority.

We have a fatigue risk management program that oversees fatigue currently, which is based on the same system we use for our pilots, and would still be used if crew moved to the modern award.

UNION CLAIM #5 – Qantas wanted crew to work 30 per cent more hours without any corresponding increase in pay.

FACT – This is a gross exaggeration.


Currently, 20 per cent of long haul crew can be planned to work up to approximately 100 hours per 28-day roster, which works out to an average of around 25 hours per week.

For this minority of our crew, we proposed that they work the same hours as the remaining 80 per cent of crew they work alongside, who work around 110 hours per 28-day roster.
This is a much smaller increase than the union claims, and would bring 20 per cent of our crew in line with other 80 per cent of their colleagues.

UNION CLAIM #6 – Changes that Qantas wants to make to standby rosters would significantly impact on crew’s work/life balance.

FACT – Rostering cabin crew to operate on reserve, or on standby, is standard across the industry and critical to providing the rostering flexibility we need to run our business.
It allows airlines to call on reserve crew at short notice when a crew member calls in sick or is The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission unavailable, so that we can continue to operate the flight as planned.

We are currently rostering crew on full reserve lines of 28 days to manage this uncertainty in the current environment.
Crew receive their full base pay while on reserve, whether or not they are called up to fly.

In the new agreement we proposed increasing the number of seven-day reserve periods (known as AV spans) from six to nine (and 12 in exceptional circumstances outside of the company’s control) per year.

Increasing the number of reserve periods improves roster stability as standby trips are more likely to start and finish within a reserve window and not disrupt a crew member’s next rostered trip.
Pre-COVID, we were often calling in people towards the end of their reserve period.

Because trips last for several days, this then impacted on their regular rostered days that followed, and we needed to call up another employee on reserve to cover for that disruption.

The changes we put forward were aimed at fixing this problem and ensuring that crew would have less disruption to their regular days, which provide more stability not less when we are able to return to 7-day reserve periods.
UNION CLAIM #7 – Crew have only had a pay increase of $2.32 per hour over the past 22 years.

FACT – This is a considerable oversimplification.

In the current agreement alone, crew pay went up by more than 9 per cent, over three years.

We also offered crew a 6 per cent pay increase as part of the offer we put forward in December, but it was rejected.

UNION CLAIM #8 – Despite receiving billions in government support, Qantas is now trying to attack cabin crew wages and conditions.
FACT – The unions know that since the start of the pandemic, a significant proportion of the money Qantas received from Government went directly to cabin crew (and other employees) while they were stood down.

Another significant proportion of the funds Qantas received was for ‘fee-for-service’ flying – maintaining essential services when domestic borders were shut and repatriation flights to bring Australians home, which created work for our people.
We have sold land, mortgaged aircraft and raised money from shareholders to get through this pandemic.

In fact, while the government support was critical, Qantas raised roughly three times more money from the market – through debt and equity – than we’ve received in all forms of government support.
The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission We know the past two years have been a very difficult period for all of our people given our industry was one of the hardest hit by the COVID – and our business has fundamentally changed as a result.

We don’t think the flexibility we’re asking from our international crew is unreasonable given the challenges we continue to face.
UNION CLAIM #9 – Qantas wants crew to take the pain of a two year pay freeze but what about executive pay?

FACT – Total executive take home pay was down almost 70 per cent compared with pre- COVID (i.e.

2019 levels) and similar to FY20 levels.

As CEO, Alan Joyce’s pay was down more than 80 per cent compared with pre-COVID.

The drop was mostly due to cancellation of annual bonuses for a second year in a row plus four months of nil and reduced base pay.

This followed three months of no pay in FY20.


Group CEO Alan Joyce again chose to defer his long term incentive (which was awarded by shareholders in 2018) of 325,500 shares.

Other senior executives received half of their long term incentive, based on the performance of the Qantas share price compared with global airline peers.

Base pay for executives will remain frozen in FY22 and annual incentives are again unlikely to be paid for the third year in a row.
The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission The future of Australia’s aviation sector, in the context of COVID-19 and conditions post pandemicSubmission 22 - Qantas response to FAAA Supplementary Submission