Some Aust. pilots sign new contracts, says Abeles

Press, 6 September 1989, Page 10

Some Aust. pilots sign new contracts, says Abeles

NZPA-AAP Melbourne Some Ansett pilots who resigned two weeks ago in support of a 29.5 per cent pay rise have signed new contracts with the company, Ansett’s joint chairman and managing director, Sir Peter Abeles, said yesterday. Speaking on ABC Radio, Sir Peter said he was confident the airline would be flying again soon. In a letter sent at the week-end to Ansett’s 850 former pilots, Sir Peter offered to meet pilots individually or in small groups to discuss their future. If he did not get a positive response he would move fast to rebuild the company in a different way, he said. Australian Airlines said yesterday it had also received job applications

from some of its 600 pilots who resigned.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots has signalled it was prepared to negotiate productivity trade-offs and that the 29.5 per cent figure was negotiable. The Federation’s executive director, Mr Terry O’Connell, said yesterday on ABC Radio that he was aware some pilots had meetings with Ansett management but none had sighed contracts. Mr O’Connell said the pilots emphasised to management that they would negotiate only through the federation, which has refused to commit itself to work within the wage-fixing guidelines.

The airlines shut down two weeks ago after pilots refused to work in accordance with their employment contracts.

Travel industry chiefs in London say British tourists are not letting the pilots’ strike destroy their holiday plans. “They’re proving quite stoical,” said Ms Sonny Kent, the regional director of the Northern Territory Tourist Commission.

“They’ve made the decision to go a long long time ago and they’re not going to let any pilots dispute disrupt those plans.”

The Australian Tourism Commission’s acting manager, Mr Phil Collins, said the British market had not started to turn as badly as it had in Japan.

“The U.K. traveller tends to be a long-stay one. We’re talking at least 35 days where the emphasis is not on a tight schedule of domestic flights like the Japanese want,” Mr Collins said.