Dozens of flights from Perth Airport cancelled as pilots strike over poor pay

Dozens of flights from Perth Airport were canned after Qantas pilots went on strike over what they have claimed are “substandard wages”.

The 24-hour industrial action by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) on Wednesday lead to dozens of cancellations on regional Qantas flights departing Perth Airport.

It is understood hundreds of people were unable to board their assigned flight that day.

Senior Industrial Officer Chris Aikens said that the pilots from Qantas subsidiary Network Aviation had been trying to reach an agreement with the airline since March and the decision to strike had “not been made lightly”.

“We had been hoping as recently as yesterday afternoon to resume discussions with the company to reach an agreement so that we did not need to take this action today,” Mr Aikens said.

“Negotiations on an expired Enterprise Agreement have come to nothing, leaving most Network Aviation pilots with wages and conditions that are well below industry standards.

“Many of these pilots earn less that what is included in the Air Pilots Award which is the bare legal minimum.”

Qantas says that thousands of West Australians had their travel plans disrupted, but that 3500 customers were able to be put on redeployed 737 jets for flights within the state.

The airline says it had rebooked 75 per cent affected customers onto different flights that day and offered refunds.

The union represents more than 85 per cent of the commercial pilots working for Network Aviation, which flies passenger transport along with fly-in, fly-out services and private charter aircraft in Western Australia.

The strike was lawful with Fair Work approving the industrial action as the pilot group and Qantas struggle to come to a consensus after the enterprise agreement expired in 2020.

The group is demanding a 50 per cent increase in pay, while Qantas has offered a one-off increase of up to 25 per cent.

Network Aviation’s chief operating officer Trevor Worgan described the pilots demands as “unreasonable”.

“The union has finally accepted our offer to return to the negotiating table, but it’s disappointing that they are continuing with their disruptive strike action, which has been timed to hurt travellers during the busy school holiday period,” he said.

“We’ve protected as much flying as we possibly can, but unfortunately our contingency options can only cover part of our regular schedule and we have had to cancel dozens of flights.”