Qantas and its pilots have failed to reach an agreement and are now headed for binding arbitration.
A Qantas spokesman told AAP on Monday the union and the airline had decided it “was not possible to reach an agreement”.
The matter will now go to binding arbitration, he said.
But the Australian International Pilots Association (AIPA) has accused the airline of sabotaging the negotiations.
In a statement, the union said it would be holding a press conference in Sydney “regarding Qantas’s decision to terminate negotiations”.
AIPA, as well as the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) were ordered to go before Fair Work Australia and end all industrial action after Qantas announced on October 29 it had grounded its entire fleet and threatened to lock out staff.
Qantas remains in talks with the engineers and the TWU, who represent ground staff and catering workers.
But TWU boss Tony Sheldon has warned it’s unlikely an agreement will be reached and has called for the airline to extend negotiations for another 21 days.
The TWU wants a job security clause included in any agreement with the airline.
The union says the latest offer from the airline on wage increases and job security is less than Qantas offered four weeks ago.
AIPA, as well as the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association and the Transport Workers Union (TWU) were ordered to go before Fair Work Australia and end all industrial action after Qantas announced on October 29 it had grounded its entire fleet and threatened to lock out staff.
Qantas remains in talks with the engineers and the TWU, who represent ground staff and catering workers.
But TWU boss Tony Sheldon has warned it’s unlikely an agreement will be reached and has called for the airline to extend negotiations for another 21 days.
The TWU wants a job security clause included in any agreement with the airline.
The union says the latest offer from the airline on wage increases and job security is less than Qantas offered four weeks ago.
The dispute between Qantas and the engineers will also now be sorted out through arbitration, the engineers’ union’s Steve Purvinas says.
“We have made some progress during our negotiations but four or five matters do remain outstanding and we think at this stage it’s probably best if we go to arbitration to sort them out,” Mr Purvinas told reporters outside Fair Work Australia in Sydney.
“So we won’t be seeking a 21-day extension.
“We are about to head in there now until probably about midnight. Maybe we will be able to resolve some of the outstanding matters.”
He said Qantas hadn’t supported a 21-day extension and arbitration could help sort out disagreements between the two parties.
“The remaining matters that we have is probably best left for arbitration and I’m confident that we’ll be able to sort it out through that process.”
Qantas later released a statement saying it had failed to reach a deal on pay and conditions with the Transport Workers Union and there would be binding arbitration by Fair Work Australia.
Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce said while Qantas’s preferred option had been to resolve the dispute through negotiations, it was now time to let Fair Work Australia bring the matter to a close.
“We haven’t been able to reach a new agreement with the Transport Workers Union through negotiations so we will now let the independent umpire decide,” Mr Joyce said in a statement.
“We made a generous offer which included reasonable increases in pay and conditions, protections on the jobs of existing Qantas employees and Qantas maintaining the flexibility we need to run the airline.
“The union rejected this offer.
