6 Nov 2011

Unions criticise Qantas' free flights offer

9:13 pm on 6 November 2011

Unions say Qantas has not gone far enough in compensating passengers whose travel plans were thrown into disarray with the grounding of its entire fleet last weekend.

Tens of thousands of people were stranded when the airline grounded all flights for two days, as the result of an ongoing industrial dispute with its staff.

The ABC reports Qantas has announced it will offer 100,000 free flights worth $A20 million.

Under the terms of the offer, customers who bought their tickets in Australia for travel between 5pm on Saturday, 29 October, and midnight on Monday, 31 October, whose flight was disrupted, are eligible for a free return economy flight on any domestic or trans-Tasman route.

The airline says the offer - advertised in Sunday's newspapers - is its way of saying "sorry" to its passengers.

But Tony Sheldon from the Transport Workers Union says the airline needs to do more.

"Qantas has a 46% increase in underlying profits this year," he said.

"They have the capacity to compensate international passengers. They have the capacity to turn around and reach decent Australian job arrangements instead of outsourcing jobs overseas", Mr Sheldon said.

He said they still have not compensated domestic passengers to the degree they should.

The union representing Qantas pilots has criticised the airline's decision to hand out free tickets.

Australian and International Pilots Association president Barry Jackson says it would have been cheaper to negotiate with employees in the first instance.

The free flight offer brings the total cost of Qantas's grounding to $50 million, including about $30 million for the two days that flights were cancelled.

It comes on top of the airline's decision to reimburse people whose flights were cancelled, and pay for their accommodation.

Qantas is still contacting people around the world who are eligible.