Pakenhamtrain Posted October 29, 2011 Share #1 Posted October 29, 2011 From the herald sun: Qantas grounds entire fleet Simon Benson From: Herald Sun October 29, 2011 12:00AM 307 comments QANTAS chief Alan Joyce has grounded all Qantas flights immediately and blames ongoing union action for his decision. In an announcement beamed live across Australia Mr Joyce said unions were "deliberately destabilising our company" and that the airline could not afford the ongoing actions. He also said all Qantas staff involved in strike action would be locked out as of 8pm on Sunday. All domestic and international flights have been grounded leaving passengers stranded all over the world. Yesterday Mr Joyce warned that half the airline would "be gone" within a year - with tens of thousands of jobs potentially at risk - if unions pursued their industrial campaign into 2012. Mr Joyce, speaking after the airline's annual general meeting yesterday, said parts of the airline would begin to be shut down if the current dispute with engineers, pilots and ground staff was not resolved. "If action continues ... we will have no choice but to shrink the airline bit by bit," he said. "If it goes for more than a year, we estimate we will have to shut down half of Qantas operations. That's 50 per cent of Qantas, gone. This would have very grave consequences for jobs." His stark assessment of the financial costs of industrial action now crippling the airline - estimated to be $2 million a day - has put a cloud over at least 17,000 jobs, or almost half the Qantas workforce. The airline warned last night that a 48-hour strike by three unions would ground the airline, leaving up to 150,000 passengers stranded. The escalation of the dispute came as Qantas shareholders gave Mr Joyce's $5 million pay packet of their tick of approval. The Transport Workers Union and the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association both warned they could undertake 48-hour strikes yesterday, while the Australian and International Pilots Association also has that right. Mr Joyce told the Herald Sun last night the airline would stand firm despite the unions' threats. "If these unions walk off the job for two days we would be left with no choice but to ground the airline until they returned to work," he said. "The unions are holding Qantas and our passengers to ransom." The airline has already lost $68 million as a result of industrial action that has disrupted more than 70,000 passengers, so far. That bill will hit $540 million - more than the airline's pre-tax profit last financial year - if the dispute is not resolved by June. Prime Minister Julia Gillard yesterday stopped short of saying she would intervene under the Fair Work Act powers. "I believe Australians expect the parties to this dispute to get it resolved and get it fixed," she said. - with Stephen Drill and Vanda Carson http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/qantas-strikes-to-hit-10000-passengers-today/story-fn7x8me2-1226180030416 Thanks Joyce for proving what we all knew you would do. It's been said he wanted to get rid of Qantas and just have Jetstar. He's playing with fire though. The union will be fireing back quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pablo M 201 Posted October 29, 2011 Share #2 Posted October 29, 2011 Wow, this don't look good.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BZGuy Posted October 29, 2011 Share #3 Posted October 29, 2011 Thanks Joyce for proving what we all knew you would do. It's been said he wanted to get rid of Qantas and just have Jetstar.. Exactly! I've been following this on PPRUNE for the last year or so and it's obvious that he wants to kill of Qantas to focus on Jetstar. I just hope somebody realizes this before we loose yet another historic airline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pakenhamtrain Posted October 30, 2011 Author Share #4 Posted October 30, 2011 Alan Joyce was the man who killed off another of our airlines some 10 years ago called Ansett Australia. It's all currently in Fair Work Australia. Mind you with 13 different Legal councils there it will take some time. Last night it went from 10PM to 2AM. More people have come in today! Latest evidence from FWA: Q: while the lockout was planned since Oct 18, actual decision to pull trigger not made until sat morning by Joyce #Qantas He's in the you know what then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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