Qantas aircraft maintenance workers in Melbourne are expected to take industrial action amid a pay dispute, disrupting services ahead of the AFL grand final weekend. An RMIT expert explains what passengers can expect.
Justin Brownjohn is Operations Manager at the RMIT Aviation Academy and a former network controller for major airlines.
"Although Qantas will likely protect flights associated with the AFL grand final, there may be cancellations to other routes. Given we are halfway through school holidays and approaching a long weekend in Victoria, any disruption is going to be difficult to recover from.
"Alternatives for passengers will be limited, especially because the flight schedule is already very tight around Friday afternoon and Saturday morning coming into Melbourne.
"If a flight is cancelled, passengers will likely be moved to remaining available seats that same day. That could mean a lengthy delay if you don't hold status with your carrier or if you bought a low-cost budget airline fare, which won't be prioritised for another service.
"If Qantas experiences disruptions, it is unlikely that flights will be increased at Virgin or Jetstar because their available capacity would already have been deployed.
"No one likes flight disruptions, and communications may not flow as quickly to passengers as they would like. But passengers need to be patient and reasonable with staff."
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