interesting from investors day.
Pilot with most to gain if Project Sunrise goes ahead: On the matter of a new enterprise agreement with pilots, La Spina said the discussions with the pilots’ union was about productivity improvements.
“In no way are we asking any of our pilots to take a pay cut. We’re not doing that,” La Spina said.
“We are saying, ‘yes you might have to be more productive to get the same pay’. We’re not going to apologise for that. We’ve been doing that since we started transformation.”
Further, La Spina said pilots had the most to gain from the growth in the fleet that will follow from the introduction of new aircraft for these ultra long-haul flights.
La Spina noted that up until the arrival of the 787-9 in the Qantas fleet in 2017 the airline had first and second officers that were unable to achieve promotion because the captains above them were not retiring and not leaving the company.
“It is only through growth that you unlock new growth opportunities, promotion opportunities for our people,” La Spina said.
“If we get growth aircraft that means we need more pilots to fly. More pilots to fly means we get more, let’s call it, from the street, which create a ripple effect through the organisation as you start to promote pilots.
“A promotion for a pilot is the biggest payrise they are going to get in their career.”