Naomi Neilson

The Federal Court heard the last of the witness evidence on Friday (22 March) but lingering questions about the “counterfactual world”, in which the sackings never occurred, has pushed the timeline back.

Qantas executives, including then-executive manager of Qantas airports, Colin Hughes, met with lawyers from Herbert Smith Freehills and an industrial relations expert in early June 2020 to discuss the decision to terminate the ground handling staff.

Counsel for Qantas, Richard Dalton KC, said even in a world where the illegal sackings never occurred, the executive team would have still considered outsourcing its ground handling operations.

Compensation hearings began in the Federal Court on Monday morning (18 March) to determine how much 1,700 ground staff are entitled to for being illegally terminated in November 2020.

The Federal Court will begin its compensation hearings from early next week, seven months after Qantas failed to overturn the court’s original finding that it illegally fired 1,700 ground staff in 2020.

Despite successfully persuading the Federal Court to strike out the statement of claim last June, Justice Stephen Burley said he was not prepared to grant the three airlines the costs of their defence.