Qantas pilot strike called off due to weather

The union representing pilots for Qantas unit Network Aviation have called off a planned strike due to bad weather expected to hit northwest Australia. Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) said they cancelled their industrial action following a request from Simone McGurk, Western Australia’s minister for training and workplace development, water, and industrial relations. Given the risk posed by ex-Tropical Cyclone Lincoln (07U) in North-West Western Australia, the AFAP has suspended the protected industrial action planned for Thursday to Sunday to enable evacuation flights to potentially take place if needed. “In light of this request from the state government, and with Network pilots clearly not wanting to place the public at any risk, the AFAP has just written to the company to confirm that the four day stop work scheduled for 22-25 February will now not now take place,” said senior industrial officer Chris Aikens. The AFAP has asked its members flying for the Qantas-owned subsidiary domestically in Western Australia to return to work as normal flying passenger flights for QantasLink and charter flights for Network Aviation. “The AFAP will monitor the situation regarding any possible future action once the current threat has passed,” said Aikens. “However, we remain open to meeting with the company in the hope that it can offer something that will be acceptable to this pilot group.” For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Matt Driskill at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Head of Sales Kay Rolland at [email protected]