Overall, are pilots going to make more money? Yes. But was this the agreement that the union was prepared to go down the PIA path for? Debatable. There are also some concessions that are going to be an issue.
Pay - 3% backdate to start of 2023, then 3% (+ 5% first year), 3%, 3% increases. I get that's an improvement, but doesnt really address the backwards steps the pilot group has taken in recent years. Nor does it attract or retain people to the airline (which was one of the union's main arguments for increased pay). Plenty of spreadsheets doing the rounds showing how we are going backwards. Pilots will keep going to Alliance, Virgin and others.
15 year scale - helps the guys that have been around for years. Instantly get a bump from a 10 year scale to a 15 year scale. This is good for senior pilots, but at what cost? See next...
FO tiers - "A new low time pilot separate pay scale based on flight time to be implemented". Three different scales keep wages down. You are either an FO, or you are not, so pay them appropriately. This scale doesn't help the FOs, and makes them feel they've been sold out to get a 15 year Captain scale. Plus the base wage is only 3% above the award - are you kidding?! Again, the argument was we need to attract new pilots, then this terrible FO deal has been pencilled. Pilots aren't applying for QLink jobs because of the low wages, having an E scale $2000 p.a. above award won't attract them. Just hold off for the QF job or take Alliance instead.
Duty hour allowance - now paid for the whole time from commencement to sign off at home base. So it means you get paid for the overnight. This again means more money, but it seems like the wrong path has been taken, which is causing all the angst amongst the bases. Apparently Easterns were offered a big duty hour allowance increase (50% perhaps), but was for the time you were actually on duty (so you didn't get paid while off duty in a hotel). However, most QLink duties are single day duties, or a minimum rest overnights (usually one a week). So simple maths shows that most pilots would benefit from an increase to the current DHA structure rather than implementing the new DHAA structure at a lower rate. Again plenty of spreadsheets doing the rounds with current rostering proving this. The only base that benefits from this scheme is the Cairns base, which has double the overnights of other bases, including many three day trips. The argument is the union wants this to avoid the company rostering big trips in the future. I'm not convinced it will make a difference, and most bases lose out on the higher rate and structure that was a possibility. Overall, the company dodged a financial bullet by not having to accept the AIPA Eastern DHA deal.
18/24 month type freezes. This will affect anyone wanting to go from the classic to Q400. This does not affect the Cairns base - they are all Q400s. However, it stops Adelaide pilots getting to Brisbane. If you take an Adelaide base, you are stuck there. Good luck getting people to apply now! Eastern will have to fall in line with Sunstate for their EBA, which means they won't be able to upgrade to the Q400. Plus, what happens if you take a Sydney classic job, but want to transfer to Brisbane (like many new FOs). Again, you cant do this with a type freeze. Overall, there is no benefit to the pilot group for this concession - only career and base stagnation, but this benefits the company big time with reduced training and relocation costs. But if you live in FNQ you wouldn't be aware of this problem...
2am sign ons - another concession to 'fund' this average EBA. Again, this doesn't affect Cairns pilots. But Brisbane pilots will cop it because they do the early FIFO charters. The union claims they want lifestyle, this absolutely ruins lifestyle even if it's only a couple of times a roster.
10 days off a month. Seems pretty good but there are some massive question marks. The company can buy back one day at roster publish. So if I bid for days off, and get awarded them, can the company force a buy back one of these? If so, that's not what I'd want as it ruins the bidding system. They need to only be able to buy back non requested days off. The devil is in the detail, hopefully the committee thought of this.
The buy back is at a day's rate. Sounds ok, but it's only half a current day off payment. So FOs will get an extra $300 pre tax a month, and Captains $600 (approximately depending on scale). "The undertaking from the company is to resource to a level where all pilots receive 10 days off at roster publish". Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha, are you kidding? This will never happen due "resourcing or operational constraints".
Overall, the in principle agreement is going to create massive division. Back to the bad old days where Eastern pilots hate Sunstate pilots because Sunstate took a selfish and turd deal. But now Sunstate pilots will also resent Sunstate pilots - the agreement benefits Cairns pilots the most and it's almost like the committee forgot there was an Adelaide base. And when the lead negotiator is a senior Cairns pilot, you can see why some pilots believe, correctly or not, that the agreement has been developed to benefit certain individuals the most.
The silence from the union and committee has been deafening. The pilots are seething but once again the union isn't communicating with the members to explain the benefits or structure of the deal. We got one catch up to discuss the negotiation months ago, but none of the "in principle" details were discussed. Pilots are going to vote no just to show what they think about the committee's leadership.
Last edited by Aimpoint; 25th Oct 2023 at 10:16.