QANTAS loses High Court appeal.
Qantas has lost its high court bid to overturn a ruling that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handler jobs.
On Wednesday the high court unanimously upheld a full federal court decision exposing the embattled airline to a mammoth compensation bill for laying off staff at 10 airports in November 2020.
Qantas statement on this morning’s High Court decision
Qantas acknowledges and accepts the High Court’s decision to uphold two prior rulings by the Federal Court regarding the legality of outsourcing the remainder of the airline’s ground handling function in 2020.
The Federal Court originally found that while there were valid and lawful commercial reasons for the outsourcing, it could not rule out that Qantas also had an unlawful reason – namely, avoiding future industrial action. The High Court has now effectively upheld this interpretation.
The decision to outsource the remainder of the airline’s ground handling function was made in August 2020, when borders were closed, lockdowns were in place and no COVID vaccine existed. The likelihood of a years’ long crisis led Qantas to restructure its business to improve its ability to survive and ultimately recover.
As we have said from the beginning, we deeply regret the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on all those affected and we sincerely apologise for that.
A prior decision by the Federal Court has ruled out reinstatement of workers but it will now consider penalties for the breach and compensation for relevant employees* which will factor in redundancy payments already made by Qantas.
*Qantas made a provision against this potential liability following the original Federal Court decision in 2021.
It should be billion dollar fines. They will be saving billions in costs over the medium term, I mean otherwise the board will likely still think it was worth it
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says the government has “nothing to hide”, as a cabinet colleague knocks back a Senate request to provide documents about its decision on Qatar Airways’ flights.
A Senate select committee on commonwealth bilateral air service agreements is due to hold hearings next week, asking senior Qantas executives, as well as former CEO Alan Joyce, to appear.
The Senate has also requested the government to release documents relating to its decision to knock back Qatar Airways’ application for a doubling of flights.
The Senate inquiry will also look at federal government decisions on additional air services going back to 2016.
The inquiry will examine whether a lack of competition in the aviation sector is pushing up airfare prices and impacting on the tourism and hospitality sectors.
It is due to report by October 9.
A Senate select committee hearing into the federal government’s refusal to allow Qatar Airways to add more flights to Australia began today. Qantas and Qatar Airways will send their representatives to appear before the inquiry next week.
Just booked a weekend away in Perth to see the WWE elimination Chamber event at Optus stadium.
Flying in Friday afternoon and home on Tuesday. I’d be interested if anyone had some fun things to to do other than the WWE, especially Saturday morning, Sunday and Monday.
If you want to do Cottesloe Beach, do it on the Monday when it’s likely to be less congested
Fremantle and Rottnest Island are worth a visit.
I liked Fremantle,I remember going there on a train,had lunch,visited the maritime museum
BREAKING: Today is a post-pandemic record in Brisbane Airport’s Domestic Terminal with 62,188 passengers. We’ve seen a constant stream of fans in Broncos and Lions colours heading to Sydney and Melbourne for the Grand Finals. #afl #nrl pic.twitter.com/3mYp0LwXBU
— Peter Doherty (@PeterDoherty7) September 29, 2023
Currently on the Gold Coast in an apartment hotel on the top floor (22 levels).
I get in the lift and press the button to get to my floor.
Older lady in the lift sees me press 22 and says “Are you on the top floor? That’s VERY high!”.
Her partner says “Not really”. I had to agree. I struggled to suppress my laughing!
She obviously knows nothing about the Gold Coast. I didn’t tell her last time I was here that I was on the 74th floor at the Meriton.
Arrived back in Brisbane yesterday after nearly 2 weeks away.,it’s great to be away and also great to return home too 
My Jetstar flight left Townsville Sunday night an hour later than it was supposed to ,thankfully it wasn’t cancelled instead
Passport stamps are being phased out amid border security concerns and a push towards paper-free technology.
— 10 News First (@10NewsFirst) October 10, 2023
Israel, Argentina, Hong Kong, Singapore and Macau have phased out stamps altogether, with Singapore planning to discontinue physical passport use entirely in 2024.… pic.twitter.com/98UWg9aYu0
Obviously the wind at Sydney Airport caused lots of delayed flights recently
My friend (Who’s cat I was looking after) and members of her family were on a flight from Sydney to Townsville that was delayed 2 hours in Sydney last Thursday
I’ve finally collected an application form from my local post office for an Australian passport,my first ever😊.I’ll try to fill it out as soon as possible,return to the post office to pay ,show them the documents I need and have photo taken,etc.
Better late than never,I know I’ll regret it if I don’t travel out of Australia at least once in my lifetime
Now I have to decide how long I’m willing to travel on a plane as my longest ever flight so far is Brisbane to Perth ,that was a journey of close to 5 hours.Brisbane to Auckland is only about 3 hours,that’s doable.
Maybe up to 8 hours,not sure yet,have to think about it first.
I’d try to travel on a well known airline for a longer overseas trip like Emirates as they have a great reputation
