Christmas may not be a time for joy for Qantas workers

Qantas maintenance staff in Melbourne will learn today whether they will still have jobs this Christmas, with more than 450 Boeing 737 heavy repair base workers being briefed on a review of the viability of the base.

This follows the closure in March of Qantas’s 747 heavy maintenance base in Sydney, with the loss of 340 jobs and speculation the Tullamarine jobs will be transferred to the Qantas maintenance base at Avalon airport, near Geelong which has expanded to employ about 850 people, most working for labour contractor Forstaff, giving Qantas greater rostering flexibility.

It is reported that Avalon has already been used for 737 work, such as the reinforcing of cockpit doors after the September 11 terrorist attacks and the installation of Qantas Skybed business seats and entertainment systems for 747s have also been undertaken there.

The Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association has already expressed fears Qantas may have made up its mind to shut the Tullamarine base, with the association saying that a decision to close Tullamarine would fly in the face of huge productivity gains made at the base.

Qantas argues that the operating costs of its facilities are 15% to 20% more than overseas.

In addtion to the Sydney maintenance job losses, the airline also has chopped over 1400 non management jobs in the past year, including 840 IT workers whose work has been shifted offshore to India.

Report by The Mole