Qantas’ international pilots union and the airline have expressed hope a strike can be averted, after a key union voted in favour of industrial action, as part of years-long negotiations over pay and rostering.

While “a broad agreement has been reached”, the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) said, one source said there is still a “fair bit of work to be done” to get to the final agreement.

Qantas said it has reached broad agreement with AIPA and the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP), on the terms of a new long-haul enterprise agreement.

The “broad” agreement over rostering and pay, comes after a ballot closed on Monday with between 76 per cent and 88 per cent of voting members of the AIPA approving a raft of possible actions, according to a statement from the union late on Wednesday.

The results of the vote don’t mean pilots will take action, only that such steps are authorised.

AIPA members want three “golden days” of leave every two months, in which pilots could not be called up for duty.

Currently, Qantas long-haul pilots have eight weeks a year in “blank line” scheduling, when an off-duty pilot is listed as on-call and must be ready to leave home within 45 minutes when required to fly.

As one source said, the use of the “blank line” scheduling had been growing and causing a fair bit of consternation with the pilots because it’s “obviously not very good for anyone’s mental health, well-being, or family life”.

Pilots also want a longer notice period for late-night callouts. Currently, if they are contacted between 7pm and 10pm, they can be called up again to work after a break of eight hours. They’d like to see that extended.

The airline believes there is no immediate risk of protected industrial action or work stoppages.

Qantas has met with AIPA and the AFAP through the Fair Work Commission on three occasions, the airline said.

“All proposed actions in the ballot received overwhelming support from our members, which confirms the strong willingness of pilots to exercise their industrial rights,” said Andrew Marshall, President of the Australian and International Pilots Association.

“However AIPA has been very encouraged by the progress made in conciliation talks at the Fair Work Commission this week and a broad agreement has been reached. We are hopeful this agreement can be formalised in the coming days.”

Comment was sought from AFAP.

The planned pay package has been under negotiation for more than two years. Once agreed, it would cover a four-year term.

with Bloomberg

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