Qantas pilots elect third Australian and International Pilots Association president in a year

Qantas pilots have elected a new president, the third in just over a year, in the hope of finding clear air in 2022.

Qantas’s domestic fleet renewal will see Boeing 737s replaced with Airbus A320neos. Picture: Brendan Radke

Qantas pilots have elected their third new president in just over a year, with A330 check and training captain Anthony Lucas taking on the top job at the Australian and International Pilots Association.

He replaces A380 Captain Murray Butt, who served his second stint as president last year, after Boeing 737 pilot Mark Sedgwick was ousted at the start of 2021.

Captain Lucas said he was very honoured to be entrusted to represent the pilot cohort, after a very challenging two years.

“When you look around the economy, we’ve probably been among the worst impacted work group of anyone in this pandemic, along with our aviation colleagues,” he said.

“Covid has hit everyone in some way. A380 pilots had no income from Qantas for the bulk of the last two years, and the ones who were flying internationally spent months isolated from their families.”

Domestic pilots also faced a tough time, with many stood down and others having to navigate constantly changing state border requirements, Captain Lucas said.

“It wasn’t a pleasant time for any of us but I’m proud of the resilience the pilot cohort demonstrated in many ways. We looked after each other,” he said.

With flying finally taking off again, Captain Lucas said his initial focus as AIPA president would be “Project Winton”, the name given to the airline’s domestic fleet replacement.

He said the changeover from Boeing aircraft to A320neos and A220s would have implications for all domestic pilots, and present an opportunity to bring National Jet Systems’ Boeing 717 pilots under the Qantas short-haul agreement.

“We would like to represent them too,” he said.

After completing his pilot training in the early 1990s, Captain Lucas began with Qantas in 1995 as a second officer on the Boeing 747-400.

He was given command on the 767 in 2008 and after a brief stint on the A380 in 2015, was appointed to his current role on the A330 in 2016.

AIPA is considered one of the most powerful unions at Qantas representing the vast majority of the airline’s 3500 pilots.

In 2011, AIPA was one of three unions involved in protected industrial action prompting CEO Alan Joyce to lockout workers, effectively grounding the airline.