Qantas grounds all flights
Qantas grounds all flights
Alexandra Back
October 29, 2011
Qantas will lock out all its employees covered by the agreements that are currently in dispute.
And it has grounded its entire domestic and international fleets indefinitely.
‘‘We are locking out until the unions withdraw their extreme claim and reach agreement with us,’’ Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told a press conference today.
"This course of action has been forced upon us ... by the actions of three unions," Mr Joyce said.
"The ball is in their court.
"They have to decide how badly they want to hurt Qantas.
"We will provide full refunds to those who choose to cancel their flights."
Mr Joyce said his hand had been tipped by the impossible demands of the three unions.
‘‘They are trashing our strategy and our brand,’’ he said.
‘‘They are deliberately destabilising the company and there is no end in sight.’’
If the industrial action continued, Qantas would have no choice but to shut down its business ‘‘part by part’’, the chief executive said.
He believed the lock out and grounding of the fleet was the only effective avenue at his disposal to bring about a solution to the dispute.
Mr Joyce said he was sorry the course of action had become necessary but the ball was now in the unions’ court.
‘‘They must decide just how badly they want to hurt Qantas, their members ... and the travelling public,’’ he said.
The airline will offer hotel accommodation and alternative flights to those who are mid-journey and cannot get home when the grounding takes effect.
There will be refunds and ticket transfers available to passengers whose flights are cancelled.
Qantas will keep passengers updated on the situation via its website, Facebook page and Twitter.
The lockout will begin at 8pm AEDT on Monday.
finance.ninemsn.com.au