Qantas Group Pilots Giving Up Entitlements
 

Hearing rumours that pilots are being encouraged (by their company and more senior crew) to give up meal and other types of EA allowances to ensure the company they work for are given preferential treatment when QF hands out flying work.

ie: QF will give this Charter flight to Network because Cobham and Mainline crew are claiming an extra X% of allowances per month.

Is this exactly why QF has multiple entities doing effectively the same thing (piloting aircraft) because they know they’ll fight for work and save QF money? Are the crew that are giving up entitlements scabbing?

Doesn’t matter what you call it, pilots will never be united and this crisis will be milked for all
it’s worth. The only enemy here is the corporate culture employed by QF, not other pilots.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but probably 30% of us won’t fly for the Qantas Group again in the next 5 years and those that are left will be flying on terms and conditions a lot lower than those we currently enjoy. Qantas will be giving the work that is best suited to the aircraft type and of course that makes them the most money, I was on a dial in the other day and a Jetstar 787 pilot said why not give the domestic work to them as they are cheaper than Qantas crew, answer was, we don’t have 787 logistics set up at domestic terminals such as the loading and boarding system, so although on the face it might be cheaper it would require an outlay that Qantas is not going to spend. I don’t think meal payments are going to be the difference.

I’m calling bull****.

I think the percentage of QF group pilots that are still flying after COVID 19 depends on the amount that Virgin contracts.

I dont blame the 787 boys for trying to think outside the square to get themselves flying given that international is probably at least 12-18 months away. I think their best chance would be SYD-AKL-MEL services like they did a few years ago, but I think even that is grasping at straws. It doesn’t make much sense to reactive a fleet for such little flying.

Dunno Ollie - lots of doom being peddled - I’m more optimistic than most, I reckon it will turn out better, sooner, than that.

This started for most of the western world properly in March. We are in May - even the worst hit parts of the world are starting to get better - not worse, irrespective of their lockdown methods.
Of course government isn’t committing to international travel anytime soon - they’ve got enough nut jobs they have to appease just to get kids back to school, let alone anything else.

Things will change as confidence grows, and it will grow.

Cheap leisure travel in the loco market might take a while, but even that will come back well. Aussies are voracious travellers.

You’re a pilot - makes sense to plan for the worst. That way Everything else will feel easy.

Chins up everyone. Life goes on.

If you’re international crew yeah maybe, JQ Domestic will pic up long before that due to cost.
As for your JQ 787 pilot asking that, I’ve been on every dial in since this China Virus 🦠 hit and I don’t remember this. Only rhetoric question I hear is why they can’t turn them into freighters. Though, GE has given every assurance that JQ want the 78 in the network just be awhile before they have useful work for them.

Jetstar Dial In, don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame him for asking. Just saying there will be many pilot groups making ‘offers’ of concessions to try and get flying as per the original post. I just don’t think it will make any difference I.e. meal payments won’t be the difference between one group or the other flying. I don’t think the original poster should get upset at this happening. I hope that we all get back to work soon, if we look all over the world though lots of management teams are using this crisis to also strip some terms and conditions and we should be prepared for that.

I think the concern is once you give something up it’s unlikely you will get it back.

So in 2, 3, 4 years time when everything is back to the new normal, the terms and conditions generations of crews before you fought for may not be there.

Classy! Thanks very much....

I heard a rumour that the level of sh*te being posted on PPRUNE is at an all time high. This just ain’t news worthy in the grand scheme of things...

Let’s re-assess when we work out how Australia is going to fare at a national level before we think about meal allowances.

By then the half sandwich (which used to be the standard for an economy pax meal) and a half rotten banana will be the norm on a 9 hour duty. Maybe you folks could suggest getting rid of overtime/min hours guarantee as well? And who needs a 4 star hotel? Backpackers will do (some may actually prefer that one)

You missed my point. 80% of the workforce hasn’t even touched an aeroplane for a couple months. I’ll jump up and down when I see a flight deck if there is no food.

Like somebody else said I call bullsh*t

So what happens to the stood down 747 crews once Jobkeeper expires in September?

Ummmm they stay stood down like the rest of us if there is no useful employment.

I know USA isn't Australia but the feeling there is "full pay and benefits" until the last day. They learnt from 9/11 and 2008 that what you give up now, you will never get back. Ever.

Ah, the brotherhood of pilots. The quintessence of Aussie mateship.
Well, for y'all not around for '89, '02 and even '08....here we go again.
Make no mistake, if times are hard enough, we will sell our grandmothers and root a dog on a chain.
That being said though, management will always do what management wants to do. There is no free will.
Your 'meal allowance' waver scenario is a simple show of weakness and scaremongering.
I call 'bull****' on the OP

I would expect Ellen to wait and see what happens with Virgin before he looks at pilot and cabin crew numbers. There is no guarantee Virgin will be operating in September. They could end up being liquidated due to stuff ups by the administrator. If Virgin were to be liquidated it would take some time for a replacement carrier to get in the air.

Yup, I get that. But the “rest of us” will probably have a “type” to go back to!

QF haven’t made any announcement on the immediate future of the 74, so who knows come July could be using them flat out domestically. As restrictions ease over the coming weeks it should be an indication of how the public feel. If there is heaps at the shops spending etc things could be ok as their confidence increase if they’re home and being cautious well there will be a lot facing a future without aviation.