Qantas raises the stakes in pilot pay dispute

Australia’s Qantas has urged its pilots to reach agreement on a pay deal for the world’s longest commercial flights or face being replaced for those routes. The airline selected the Airbus A350-1000 as the preferred plane for the new routes to cities including London and New York in H1 2023, but it said that an order for up to 12 jets was contingent on reaching a deal with pilots by March. In an internal memo, Qantas International head Tino La Spina said the end of March deadline for a pilot vote on the deal was firm. “Airbus extended the delivery slots one last time once they knew they were the preferred supplier, but they are not willing to continue their exposure beyond that point,” he said. Qantas and the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents the pilots, have spent months in talks over a new pay deal. If a deal is not reached soon, the company will put a pay deal directly to the pilots for a vote even if it does not have the union’s backing. A failure of that vote would result in Qantas forming a new lower-cost pilot group, La Spina said.<br/>