Bulk cancelled flights as new Jetstar strike details emerge
A number of ground staff working for Jetstar have begun to stop doing their duties and will continue to do so throughout Friday in airports around Australia.
More than 100 flights will be cancelled due to strikes about to take place throughout the weekend, just a little less than three weeks until Christmas.
The budget airline's unruly disruption comes after it refused demands by workers for minimum job hours, pay increases and a number of safety improvements.
Around 250 Jetstar ground staff and baggage handlers will stop working during peak departure and arrival periods in Sydney, Melbourne (Tullamarine and Avalon), Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide airports.
Jetstar have confirmed at least 80 per cent of its flights will continue to operate as scheduled over the weekend however, close to 100 flights will be cancelled on Saturday and Sunday.
“Overall, Jetstar will cancel 44 services on Saturday, 14 December and 46 services on Sunday, 15 December, and Jetstar will contact impacted customers from today. On average Jetstar operates about 370 flights a day,” Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans said.
“We expect to get 95 per cent of our customers on their way on the same day.
“Any customers travelling from 13 December to 20 December can also request a full refund prior to flying.”
Australian Federation of Air Pilots members are set to walk off the job for four hours on Saturday and Sunday following failed conversations around stalled wage negotiations.
It is the first time Jetstar pilots have taken protected industrial action since the airline first started flying 15 years ago.
Mr Evans said the strike would have an impact on passengers from Friday; however, the airline says it will not buckle “at any cost”.
“We know the union’s actions are creating uncertainty for travellers,” he said.
“We remain committed to reaching a new agreement to support the great work our people do every day but not at any cost.”
Three days of strikes comes after the budget Australian airline rejected employee’s demands for pay increases, minimum hours on the job and numerous safety improvements.
Transport Workers Union (TWU) leaders told the company about the planned stoppages after a majority of its members voted to launch protected industrial action.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said Jetstar needed to justify why it had rejected its worker’s “modest” requests.
“Jetstar won’t listen when these workers say to them that they simply can’t survive on 20 hours of work a week … when they make sure Jetstar knows they are on the lowest pay in the industry,” Mr Kaine said.
“They are finding it harder and harder to support their families, and Jetstar won’t listen when these workers repeatedly say that their jobs are not safe because there are too few workers lugging around thousands and thousands of kilos of baggage and having to service overlapping aircraft.”
Employees at Melbourne Airport will strike from 9.30 am to 11.30 am and again from 4 pm to 6pm.
In Sydney, staff will walk off the job between 5.30 am to 7.30 am and 5.30 pm to 7.30pm.
In Brisbane and Adelaide there will be a strike from 6 am to 8 am and 6 pm to 8pm.
It is understood passengers impacted by cancellations will be notified by the airline today.