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Winter Airline Strike News Getting Better and Better

November 2, 2011 at 5:57 PM | by | Comment (1)

As the airline industry settles in for a winter of labor turmoil, we here at Jaunted are becoming resigned to what will be an endless series of airline strike stories. And while we could just update you with lines like "were you thinking of going to [destination X that's totally hosed] some time soon? If so, don't"—that seems just a little bit flippant. Although if you were thinking of going to Canada, France, Australia, or India some time soon, there's a good chance you're going to want to consider travelers' insurance.

A few days ago we told you that the Qantas and Air France strikes were winding down, which was technically true. As of yesterday Qantas had resumed all flights and Air France was operating at 90%. But—because this is how things are going to go now, apparently—none of the issues have been resolved. So everything could kick up again before the month is over.

That said, at least on the Air France side, the unions are already losing public support and have lost the government's Transport and Environment Minister. That's remarkably close to what happened to UK airline unions last year before they lost big, which is why we specifically flagged government reactions for you earlier this week. So this one might actually wind down.

On the other hand, there are also strike winds blowing for Air Canada and Air India, and now it looks like a Qantas plane has been sabotaged.

And while Virgin Australia has very graciously stepped up to the plate and taken much of Qantas's business, and while the airline is actually running an offense to win even more business flyers, travelers are still going to face significant uncertainty. Great news all around, huh?

[Photo: quinn.anya / Flickr]

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Qantas Problems

Qantas employees are generally the highest-paid airline employees in the world. When the government started making "open skies" agreements with lower cost carriers, they put in motion the labor turmoil we're now seeing. Some QF pilots are reported to be making over $350K/year, and FA's on $85K/year, with even unskilled grunts (baggage handlers) on $75K/year. This is unsustainable now, however the employees, backed by a Labor government, aren't going to go quietly. And the "solution" that US based airlines used to beat the recalcitrant unions (bankruptcy/forced reorganization) isn't available under Australian law. Despite a legal ruling barring further union action, I think it's mostly worthless. You can't force angry employees not to strike. Qantas is going to be a mess for the foreseeable future, and one should avoid this airline completely.
JimMc on November 3, 2011 at 1:58 PM #Permalink

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