Almost 100 Jetstar flights cancelled in lead up to Christmas
Jetstar pilots will take industrial action this weekend after other airline staff walked off the job amid a pay and safety dispute.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots says the union's Jetstar pilots will undertake four-hour work stoppages on Saturday and Sunday and a range of lower-level bans from December 14 to 20.
If you are booked to travel with us on December 13, 14 or 15, you will have now been notified via SMS or email if your flight has been affected by industrial action. We'll also keep you up-to-date with the latest information via our travel alert https://t.co/Lb5SN62PEz.
— Jetstar Airways (@JetstarAirways) December 12, 2019
Jetstar plans to cancel 44 services on Saturday and 46 on Sunday.
The pilots' action comes after baggage handlers and ground staff stopped work on Friday at Sydney Airport, Melbourne's Tullamarine and Avalon airports, and in Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide.
The budget airline rejected workers' demands for pay increases, minimum hours on the job and safety improvements.
Staff were requesting more rest breaks, a guaranteed 12-hour break between shifts and 30 hour working weeks.
Jetstar said the disruption had not badly affected flights on Friday because they had minimised fallout by cancelling 30 services in advance.
The people inconvenienced by the Jetstar strike should get together and do a class action against Jetstar, the pilots and baggage handlers this is just blackmail of the traveling public to get what they want . Jetstar should have sorted this well before this
— Jan Maree Smith (@JanMareeSmith2) December 13, 2019
Jetstar should just sack those that are on strike. No work, equals no pay. I flew jetstar once. That was enough.
— Stephen Monro (@StephenMonro) December 13, 2019
Workers who walked off the job on Friday have pledged to do it again next Thursday should their demands not be met.
The company says customers travelling from December 13 to December 20 can request a full refund prior to flying.
Jetstar have released a full list of the cancelled flights here.
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