Qantas rejects move to fast-track pilot job cuts

Qantas last night rejected reports that more than 200 pilot jobs on Boeing 747s and 767s would be axed by the end of the month.

QANTAS last night rejected reports that more than 200 pilot jobs on Boeing 747s and 767s would be axed by the end of the month but confirmed they would be phased out over time.

The airline stuck by its previous figure of net loss of about 100 jobs due to the retirement of the older aircraft between now and 2016. It is understood this stems from the difference between about 230 jobs to be displaced because of the retirement of the older planes and about 150 positions B747 and B767 pilots will be offered on other aircraft.

“We are working this process through with our pilots, offering voluntary redundancy to those who want it,’’ a spokesman said.

However, the move upset the Qantas pilots union amid fears transferred pilots will lose their seniority. Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe described the news as “another sad and sorry instalment in the story of a company that tragically still has no credible plans to turn itself around and grow, apart from a blunt campaign to cut routes, delay aircraft and sack loyal staff.

“It is a particularly heart- wrenching time for those mainline captains and first officers who now stare down the barrel of ­demotion.’’