Qantas to fly again, 70,000 passengers stranded

Australia's industrial tribunal today ordered an end to the unprecedented industrial dispute at Qantas that forced the country's national carrier to ground its entire fleet, hitting nearly 70,000 passengers worldwide.

A day after the extraordinary decision to ground the global Qantas fleet, the battle between the world's 10th-largest airline and the labour unions went before Fair Work Australia, while the government came under increasing pressure to act unilaterally to end the dispute.

"We have decided to terminate protected industrial action in relation to each of the proposed enterprise agreements immediately," Fair Work Australia said in a statement after a marathon meeting here, clearing the way for Qantas planes to start flying again.

"We have decided that in the particular circumstances of this case, which on the evidence include the particular vulnerability of the tourism industry to uncertainty, suspension will not provide sufficient protection against the risk of significant damage," it said.

"We should do what we can to avoid significant damage to the tourism industry."

Nearly 70,000 people have been affected by the cancellation of hundreds of flights in 22 countries. Qantas flies thrice weekly between Mumbai and Brisbane via Singapore, according to the website of the airline.

The strike has already embarrassed Prime Minister Julia Gillard, as some of the leaders who attended the just-ended Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) were due to fly on Qantas planes.

Gillard said the dispute between Qantas and unions needed to be ended.

"I believe Australians want to see this dispute settled. I want to see it settled and we have taken the appropriate action ...," she said in Perth.

Qantas grounded its fleet on Saturday and announced plans to lock out staff from three unions representing engineers, pilots and catering and baggage staff from tomorrow evening.

The airline said the grounding of all flights was a necessary reaction to a series of costly strikes and other industrial action, which the company said were costing USD 16 million a week.

The Qantas announcement came after months of wrangling between the airline's management and unions. Relations started deteriorating in August after the airline announced plans for restructuring and moving some operations to Asia.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the airline would need the industrial action terminated, not just suspended, to be sure about flying again.

He said ongoing industrial action by pilots, engineers and baggage, ground and catering staff was risking the "entire future" of Qantas, as it battled to meet the challenges of increased competition and high costs.

The grounding has thrown Australia's aviation and tourism industry into turmoil, with about 68,000 passengers directly affected on Sunday. More than 8,000 people were marooned at major overseas destinations including London, Singapore, Los Angeles and Hong Kong, The Age newspaper reported.

Qantas has a 65 per cent share of the domestic Australian market, but has been making heavy losses on its international flights, media reports said.

The restructuring in Qantas is expected to mean the loss of 1,000 jobs from its 35,000-strong workforce.

Pilots have been engaged in protracted talks with management over wages, conditions and outsourcing of jobs to Asia, but they have yet to walk off the job - unlike baggage handlers, engineers and ground staff.