QANTAS Airways is forced to ground more aircraft due to the strike

QANTAS Airways (Sydney) announced today it grounded two additional wide-body Boeing 767 aircraft yesterday as ongoing strike from the Australian Licenced Engineers Association (ALAEA) continues to cause a backlog of maintenance on the QF fleet.

According to the airline, the grounding of these two aircraft will see a further 80 domestic flights cancelled over the next month, and the removal of approximately 20,000 seats of capacity. This will mainly impact flights between the eastern states and Perth.

As a direct result of the ongoing ALAEA ban on overtime and work to rule, Qantas has now been forced to ground seven aircraft, cancel around 500 flights and remove approximately 88,000 seats from sale over the next month.

In addition, since union strike action began less than two months ago by the ALAEA and the Transport Workers’ Union more than 60,000 passengers have been directly impacted, with 129 flights cancelled and 321 flights delayed or brought forward.

In addition to the grounding of these two Boeing 767s, the company has already grounded four Boeing 737s and a Boeing 767.

The ALAEA has provided the airline with a written notification that it will keep the ban on overtime and the “go-slow” in place until Christmas.

On time performance has slipped from 87 percent five weeks ago to 75 percent this week.

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Copyright Photo: John Adlard. During all of this labor turmoil, QF has introduced this promotional Optus frequent flyer program livery on this Boeing 737-800. Please click on the photo for the full details.