QANTAS has flagged plans to cut maintenance costs by axing its long-standing policy of having a licensed engineer check every passenger jet before take-off.
And the airline intends to hire lesser-qualified "A-licence'' workers to replace licensed engineers for some hangar work as it moves to cut overheads and bolster its survival prospects.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce warned yesterday the flag carrier had no choice but to overhaul its maintenance program if it was to live on and grow in the cut-throat market.
The airline was lumbered with maintenance and repair systems that were "among the least efficient and most expensive in the world'', Mr Joyce said, speaking at an industry conference in Sydney.
He said new-generation Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which made up 50 per cent of the domestic Qantas fleet, did not require the same degree of ``intensive, repetitive maintenance''.
"This therefore makes redundant the current practice that a highly specialised licensed engineer should receive and dispatch each aircraft,'' Mr Joyce said.
Pilots would still carefully check all aircraft before and after every flight, he said, and licensed engineers would continue to inspect older aircraft.
Mr Joyce said it was essential Qantas became more competitive with rival airlines, which enjoyed costs up to 25 per cent lower.
Work practices and job protection go to the core of the airline's industrial dispute with licensed engineers, who have staged one-minute strikes and, in some cases, handled tools using only their left hands.
Mr Joyce said the proposed changes were in line with new standards approved by the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority, which reflected European standards and global best-practice.
The standards clear the way for the use of workers with an A-licence, who are qualified to work on aircraft but do not require the same level of training and specialisation as licensed engineers.
"This means we can retain our licensed engineers in their specialised roles and provide new opportunities for other maintenance staff,'' Mr Joyce said.
He said some union leaders were "simply out of touch''.
"We don't repair our cars the same way we did 40 years ago - we can't repair our planes the same way either,'' Mr Joyce said.
The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association condemned the maintenance proposals.
Secretary Steve Purvinas said the push would see engineers with decades of experience made redundant and replaced with workers with as little as three months' training.
He said the association had agreed with Virgin Australia's move to use A-licence holders, but only for 10 per cent of maintenance staff and for those who would attain full engineering licences within two years.