Originally Posted by
Wingspar
Once a 787 operates an old A380 route then stand down cannot be justified because the conditions, set by the Federal Court, have been met.
If a pandemic remains declared the stand downs will be able to be justified. If the pandemic is no longer declared (world wide) then I suspect demand will be such that the A380 will be back anyway.
Until that occurs we’ll likely see some (potentially very) limited 787/ A330 ops on previous A380/ 747 routes prior to the pandemic being declared over. If this occurs I suspect that any argument put to a court that because the 787 or A330 is operating (say) 2-3 times per week on a route that was previously a daily A380/ 747 route, that it’s now a ‘commercial decision’, and as a result stand downs on the A380 must cease, will end up with the same result as the ALAEA received. It’s too easy to point out what we were doing before, compare it to what we are doing now, and point to the ‘pandemic beyond the control of Qantas’ as the reason. Even a daily 787/330 service once the pandemic is declared over may struggle to avoid being caught up in the ‘as a result of Covid’ reasoning.
As I’ve said before, perhaps a judge will decide. Maybe we’d be smarter to negotiate an outcome in the best interests of all pilots rather than roll the dice with the legal system. Our record in the legal arena is not fantastic.