Qantas shot down over pilot sacking

A pilot who accused Qantas of age discrimination has won a temporary injunction preventing his termination.

Qantas A330s are increasingly returning to service on domestic and trans-Tasman routes as demand for travel returns. Picture: Chung Choo

Qantas has been dealt a significant court defeat in an age discrimination case brought by a pilot, in a setback for the airline’s COVID recovery plans.

The Federal Court on Wednesday granted an interim injunction to Captain Paul Summers, restraining Qantas from terminating his employment until his case could be heard by the Human Rights Commission.

Captain Summers was among 55 pilots offered an early retirement package by the airline at the height of the COVID crisis last year, due to the fact he was turning 65 before July 1, 2022.

Pilots under 63 were given the option of taking voluntary redundancy, which was worth three-times more than early retirement.

Along with several other senior pilots, Captain Summers declined the early retirement package, choosing to continue on in his role as an A330 pilot.

Federal Court documents showed that in December, Captain Summers was ordered by Qantas to show cause why his position should not be terminated because of the rule banning pilots from long-haul flight once they turned 65.

He took issue with a number of matters, namely the fact that as an A330 pilot he flew domestic and short-haul routes to which the “rule of 65” did not apply, as well as long-haul routes.

In the 12 months to March 30, 2020, when he and most other ­pilots were stood down, Captain Summers operated 33 flights between Australian ports, and 53 international services, eight classifiable as short-haul.

On March 5, 2021, two weeks after his 65th birthday, Captain Summers received a termination letter that maintained he was unable to meet the requirements of his position as a long- haul pilot.

As well as the rule of 65, Captain Summers was told he would be unable to participate in the airline’s rostering system.

That was because pilots were required to go on standby every 12 to 16 months to fill in on inter­national flights, for which he was no longer legally able to fly.

Qantas argued it would have to modify its rostering system to accommodate Captain Summers if he were allowed to continue on beyond the age of 65.

The airline also claimed if the interim injunction was granted, there was a real risk other pilots around the same age would seek similar relief in the future.

Judge Anna Katzmann ruled that while Captain Summers’s case was not particularly strong, the detriments that Qantas claimed to face in extending his employment were “overstated”.

She pointed out that the planned resumption of international flying on October 31 seemed “fanciful” in light of problems with the COVID vaccination rollout, and in any case Captain Summers was still able to fly to Singapore, New Zealand and on domestic routes.

Her orders instructed Qantas to keep Captain Summers stood down, unless he was able to be redeployed to short-haul flights or to another position for which he was qualified.

Qantas was ordered to pay his court costs.

The ruling is expected to bolster the case of another Qantas pilot taking Federal Court action against the airline for alleged age discrimination. Boeing 747 Captain Andrew Hewitt, the son of former Qantas chairman Lenox Hewitt, was denied access to a redundancy package because he was turning 65 before July 1, 2022.

He argued the different treatment of older pilots amounted to age discrimination, to their financial disadvantage.

Qantas has denied any unfavourable treatment of Captain Hewitt, claiming “all long-haul pilots in the same or similar circumstances to him were treated in the same manner”.

Both cases are expected to be heard in coming weeks.