Qantas strike impact minimised by use of larger planes

Qantas Airways Ltd said a combination of flight reschedulings and the use of larger planes on key routes has minimised the impact of any cancellations caused by today's strike by ground staff.

The Australian Services Union (ASU), which represents some 6,000 Qantas employees, said more than 160 domestic flights were cancelled due to the work stoppage, the second this month.

Qantas officials said the union figure for cancellations was too high, but would not provide any numbers of their own.

Qantas said passengers whose flights were cancelled had been informed by the weekend so they had time to rearrange their travel plans.

"We expect to get everyone who wants to fly today to their destination on time," said a company spokeswoman, Sonya Sandham, adding that 95% of Monday's flights were leaving on schedule.

She also said 80% of ASU staff had ignored the strike call, a figure which could not be independently checked. Qantas managers were staffing check-in counters where staff were striking, Sandham told Agence France-Presse.

Lines at check-in counters were no longer than usual for a Monday morning at the country's main airports and Qantas said international flights were unaffected by the strike.

Martin Foley, an ASU official in Melbourne, said the lack of long lines was simply the result of passengers being forced to fly on other days due to cancellations.

"Queues should be minimised because basically, there are not many people flying today," he told the Australian Associated Press.

Foley said nearly half the flights out of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane had been cancelled.

ASU members include check-in and telephone sales staff as well as employees in freight, information technology, catering, administration and maintenance operations.

During the union's first strike on Aug 2, tens of thousands of passengers suffered through delays and long check-in lines.

The workers are seeking a 10% pay rise over two years, a hike they insist is justified by a pay freeze that the unions accepted for the past year to help Qantas weather the turmoil caused by Sept 11.

The union also wants a commitment that in-house services will not be switched to outside contractors.

The airline has offered a three percent pay hike over three years, a package three other unions representing Qantas staff have accepted.

"We believe our offer is fair and reasonable," Qantas' Sandham said.