No-fly Qantas strands thousands
- 13 years ago
Qantas airline jets -- among the many belonging to the Australian carrier that will be remaining on the ground.
The carrier has taken the almost unprecedented step of shutting down its entire fleet amid a bitter labour dispute with unions.
The lockout, which began Saturday, is expected to affect 600 flights and some 70,000 passengers this weekend alone.
Hundreds of people were stranded in airports across the world, their long-planned vacations poised to go up in smoke.
SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH PASSENGER, STEVE JOHNSON, SAYING:
"Not very happy because it was the holiday of a lifetime for us and it cost us a lot of money. Our travel agents have told us we're probably best just to forget the holiday, get the money back and re-book from scratch again."
Australia's prime minister has stepped into the dispute, referring the impasse to the national labour relations board - a move that could force an end to the shutdown.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLED SAYING:
"The rapid escalation of this dispute today, what we are saying is a circumstance with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy."
Qantas employees, from pilots to caterers, have been taking strike actions since September.
They're unhappy with their pay and the airline's plans to cut soaring costs.
Andrew Raven, Reuters
The carrier has taken the almost unprecedented step of shutting down its entire fleet amid a bitter labour dispute with unions.
The lockout, which began Saturday, is expected to affect 600 flights and some 70,000 passengers this weekend alone.
Hundreds of people were stranded in airports across the world, their long-planned vacations poised to go up in smoke.
SOUNDBITE (English) BRITISH PASSENGER, STEVE JOHNSON, SAYING:
"Not very happy because it was the holiday of a lifetime for us and it cost us a lot of money. Our travel agents have told us we're probably best just to forget the holiday, get the money back and re-book from scratch again."
Australia's prime minister has stepped into the dispute, referring the impasse to the national labour relations board - a move that could force an end to the shutdown.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER JULIA GILLED SAYING:
"The rapid escalation of this dispute today, what we are saying is a circumstance with this industrial dispute that could have implications for our national economy."
Qantas employees, from pilots to caterers, have been taking strike actions since September.
They're unhappy with their pay and the airline's plans to cut soaring costs.
Andrew Raven, Reuters