Qantas engineers to consider options other than strikes

[SYDNEY] Engineers at Qantas Airways will first consider options other than strikes in response to wage freezes the airline announced last week, their union said.

"Strike action was never on our radar after the announcement," Steve Purvinas, federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, said on Sky News Australian Agenda programme on Sunday. "One thing we could possibly look at would be a trade-off of our wage rises for shareholdings in the company." Australia's biggest airline, which last week reported a A$252 million (S$285 million) loss before taxes in the six months to Dec 31, said that it would cut 5,000 jobs, defer new jets, and freeze all pay until it returns to profit. Chief executive officer Alan Joyce announced the measures as part of his efforts to persuade the Australian government Qantas needs a debt guarantee and to lift a cap on foreign ownership.

Mr Joyce last week abandoned a goal to turn the airline's international division profitable by next year, meaning the earliest the Sydney-based company is estimated to post a profit is in 2016.