{
  "id": 8134908,
  "title": "School holidays flight disruption fear as QantasLink staff threaten action",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/18/school-holidays-flight-disruption-fear-as-qantaslink-staff-threaten",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-18T00:32:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "ABC News AU",
    "slug": "abc-news-au",
    "url": "https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-18/qantas-tries-to-stop-school-holiday-industrial-action/107167216"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Qantas is attempting to halt planned industrial action by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) next week. The scheduled 24-hour strike action on Thursday is set to impact QantasLink flights departing from Sydney and freight services, potentially affecting travelers heading to certain regional areas. School holidays have commenced in Queensland, Victoria, and the Northern Territory. The industrial action involves around 650 employees, with most working for Qantas Freight and a smaller number servicing QantasLink flights at Sydney Airport. These workers do not handle Qantas mainline or international services, nor do they work for QantasLink at other airports.\n\nQantas has devised contingency plans to mitigate any effects on QantasLink customers and operations in case the industrial action occurs. The company remains committed to reaching an agreement with Qantas Ground Services employees that includes annual pay increases. The TWU's National Secretary, Michael Kaine, cautioned that workers were not considering the action lightly. He held Qantas management responsible for disruptions to freight, including Australia Post shipments, citing the union's dissatisfaction with customer and workforce treatment. Kaine blamed increasing casualization and insecure work for ground crew safety failures, a claim Qantas denies.\n\nThe TWU's action follows a fatal incident involving a Qantas Freight worker over a year ago on Father's Day. Kaine asserts that Qantas continues to fragment its workforce to reduce wages and weaken conditions, describing it as \"corporate greed on steroids\" that harms customer service quality and safe, reliable jobs for workers. Qantas maintains that discussions with the Fair Work Commission have been productive and negotiations are ongoing, with a focus on an agreement addressing employees' concerns about pay and full-time opportunities.",
  "summary": "School holidays start in Queensland, Victoria and the Northern Territory next week, and planned Qantas industrial action could hit regional flights and freight.",
  "key_points": [
    "QantasLink faces 24-hour strike risk during school holidays",
    "650 Transport Workers Union employees involved in action",
    "Qantas prepares contingency plans to minimize disruption"
  ],
  "editors_take": "The threatened QantasLink strike during school holidays shifts the burden of potential travel disruption to families heading to regional areas, highlighting tensions between the airline and its ground staff over pay and job security.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}