Qantas has also reached an in-principle agreement with the Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia (FAAA) on a number of pay claims.

Qantas and the FAAA have both issued press releases about it this morning, so I’ll summarise both here.

For context, in December 2023 the Albanese Government passed their ‘Same Job Same Pay‘ legislation which affects some long-standing workforce arrangements used by Qantas and other businesses.

Qantas and the FAAA have been in discussions about it, and Qantas has today confirmed that it will support the union’s three Same Job Same Pay applications for its short-haul cabin crew with the Fair Work Commission (FWC).

Separate to these applications, Qantas has also reached an in-principle agreement with the FAAA around its long-haul cabin crew workforce.

Qantas says the decision to support the applications will result in up to 800 Qantas short-haul cabin crew soon receiving pay increases, with the final amounts to be worked through.

It says the in-principle agreement to vary the current Long Haul Cabin Crew Enterprise Agreement for around 2,500 international crew to receive pay increases in line with Qantas short haul crew, also ensures that they have access to the new A350-1000 Ultra Long Range aircraft, including Project Sunrise Flights.

Qantas says it expects the gross impact of the proposed changes in FY25 will be around $60 million, and to begin on 1 November 2024, subject to finalisation by the Fair Work Commission.

It says it will look to offset the impact of the wage increases through revenue and cost savings.

FAAA Federal Secretary Teri O’Toole says the new agreement is a positive start to a new relationship with the airline.

“We are hopeful that the signing of this new agreement signals a return to a proper working relationship between the face of the International airline, its cabin crew, and the new CEO’s management team.

 “This is a far cry from the Qantas of just a couple of years ago, which declared open war against their cabin crew employees and held a gun to the heads of workers with applications to terminate their Enterprise Agreement.”

Ms O’Toole said that Qantas and the FAAA had reached the agreement on a variation that cabin crew will vote on by the end of October 2024, to include a range of new provisions in the existing Enterprise Agreement.

“This agreement strikes the right balance between getting the cabin crew a much-needed pay rise, securing future work for Australian crew, and providing the business certainty in the competitive international marketplace.

“Without doubt, the Albanese Labor Government’s Closing the Loopholes legislation was instrumental in bringing Qantas to the table to hold discussions that will provide up to 30 per cent increases in pay for cabin crew, which come into effect on 1 November 2024.

“The reforms have also allowed the FAAA to negotiate conditions in an Enterprise Agreement variation that the legislation does not cover. It also means that as a package, when the crew vote up the EA variation, they will be much better off on a range of conditions and entitlements.

“Thanks to this in-principle agreement, for the first time in many years, cabin crew will not be forced to trade off hard-won conditions to gain a pay rise, and Qantas profits will flow through to cabin crew in the form of increased pay and improved working conditions.”

 Ms O’Toole also said that Qantas has agreed to bring employees in the wholly owned subsidiary QF Cabin Crew Australia Pty Ltd into direct hire with the parent company.

“The employment of crew from the labour-hire entity into the parent company is a historic moment for our members who have felt like second-class citizens, and this will hopefully assist in closing the loophole employers have exploited across the airline industry.

“The FAAA has also made three Regulated Labour Hire Arrangement Order applications on 7 June and 22 July 2024 that cover the domestic operations of Qantas.

“Qantas Domestic and Qantas Airways Limited have indicated that they will not oppose these applications for orders in the Fair Work Commission.

“Our next focus is to deliver fairness for Qantas domestic cabin crew currently employed by labour-hire firms on second-rate pay and working conditions.”