17 OCT: Qantas engineers say the real reason the airline is grounding aircraft is because of a shortage of spare parts, not because of industrial action.
The claim was made at the weekend by the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA).
Qantas has announced that it will cancel 400 domestic flights over the next month after deciding to ground five planes.
It blames the move on industrial action which "is slowing down our business and creating a backlog of maintenance".
But engineers tell a different story.
"The reason those aircraft are grounded is lack of spare parts. It’s not the industrial action," ALAEA general manager Peter Somerville told news agency AAP on Saturday.
"They are waiting on spare parts and they are blaming the union."
Mr Somerville said the 400 cancelled flights amount to only 3% of the total number of domestic and international flights the airline operates every month.
"Is Qantas is seriously saying that they can’t run an airline with 97 per cent of their fights operating?" he said.
