The airline says it will cut check-in time by up to 50 per cent with the upgrades, which include changing its airport check-in kiosks to bag tag printers and encouraging guests to check in online or via the Virgin Australia app.
Around 150 employees at Sydney and Brisbane Airports, currently employed by Qantas subsidiaries Eastern and Sunstate, would be affected by the new arrangements, which the union says would bump their pay by around 30 per cent and “close a long-standing loophole” that lowered wages.
In a letter to Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, ASU assistant national secretary Scott Cowen noted recent comments by Hudson at the Macquarie Australia Conference this month regarding cost reductions and the integration of AI across the Qantas Group.
All Link Airways flights from Shellharbour to Melbourne and Brisbane will be suspended starting 20 May due to “increased fuel costs and reduced demand”, meaning residents of Shellharbour and the Illawarra, including Wollongong, will need to travel to Sydney for air services.
Titled “Touching the Jet Stream”, the book, published by Hardie Grant, is billed as “a compelling, factual and gripping memoir from one of Australia’s most consequential chief executives”, and will cover Joyce’s career across 30 years in the aviation industry.
The inaugural flight FC275 touched down in Launceston just after 1pm on Wednesday aboard the Saab 340B VH-VEQ, marking the beginning of a new year-round connection between Tasmania’s north and the nation’s capital.