QANTAS will be forced to shut its heavy maintenance facilities in Brisbane and Victoria tomorrow because of industrial action by licensed engineers.
Members of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association will strike for a full shift at the facilities, forcing the airline to stand down other workers on full pay.
The action comes as the Transport Workers Union warned yesterday that it could hold a second round of stoppages involving ground staff as early as next week. However, the union said any action would have to be ratified by members.
The licensed engineers have been ramping up their campaign, extending overtime bans to weekdays and threatening next month to expand one-hour rolling stoppages to four hours.
Unions are bracing for months of strife and ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas has described the situation as a war with the company.
While tomorrow's strike will not have a direct effect on passengers, it will delay entry into service of aircraft undergoing maintenance and add to the cumulative impact of the ALAEA's action.
A rolling campaign by engineers in 2008 saw the airline's on-time performance drop below 70 per cent and cancellations top 6 per cent, while it cost the airline more than $130 million.
Qantas group executive Olivia Wirth said four-hour rolling stoppages by engineers would have a significant impact.
"We don't have a contingency workforce and we don't have contingency capabilities like we do with the TWU workforce," Ms Wirth said.
The TWU strike forced Qantas to cancel 28 flights and delay others but its contingency plans coped with the renewed schedule.
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