Qantas engineers went on strike this week, intensifying their fight for higher wages in a long-running dispute with the airline.

Engineers at six major airports, including Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, walked off the job during peak flight hours from 7 am to 9 am on Monday.

More than 1,000 engineers, represented by the Qantas Engineers' Alliance - members of the AMWU, AWU, and ETU - are demanding a 15 per cent pay rise upfront, followed by annual increases over the next three years. 

Union leaders argue engineers have faced years of stagnant wages, with no significant increases despite a rising cost of living.

“These workers hold special and valuable skills that take a decade to build up. They were essential workers during the pandemic, and made sacrifices so Qantas would survive. Qantas needs to pay that debt back,” said Paul Farrow, AWU national secretary.

The engineers’ unions stressed the vital role their members play in maintaining Qantas’ safety standards and called on the airline to address the wage disparity. 

AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said the strike action was a response to years of being undervalued. 

“As our members say, there are no car parks when you’re 30,000 feet in the air, so these maintenance engineers need to get it right the first time. If Qantas values that safety, it needs to show it values its workers. This is what this dispute is all about,” he said. 

Qantas said its operations remained largely unaffected by the strikes, as it had contingency plans that ensured no significant flight delays. 

The unions have warned that without a better offer from Qantas, further strikes will be undertaken. 

Negotiations have stalled since April, with the unions claiming that wage freezes have significantly devalued their members' skills. 

The airline reported a $1.25 billion net profit for the 2023-24 financial year.

“Qantas management has absolutely smashed morale among engineers, and now we’ve reached a real fork in the road,” Farrow said. 

“Engineers won’t accept seeing their wages lurch backward in real terms while executives get showered in cash.”

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