Qantas ground workers strike at five airports: flights still on time
Web StoryWatch this story in 15 seconds →Key takeaways
- Hundreds of Qantas ground workers stopped work for 24 hours on 28 October 2026.
- The strike hit Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth airports.
- Qantas says no flights were hit, and all Sydney QantasLink flights left on time.
Hundreds of Qantas ground workers walked off the job on Wednesday, 28 October 2026. They stopped work for 24 hours at five big Australian airports. Qantas says no flights were hit by the action.
What happened
The strike started on Wednesday morning across Australia. It covered Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Perth airports. The workers are members of the Transport Workers Union, known as the TWU.
The TWU is a union for transport workers in Australia. A union is a group that speaks up for workers. It talks to bosses about pay and work rules.
The strike lasted a full 24 hours. That means it ran from Wednesday into Thursday morning. It was a planned stoppage, not a sudden walkout.
Qantas said flights kept running as normal. By 9am on Wednesday, no flights had been hit. All QantasLink flights out of Sydney left on time.
QantasLink is the regional arm of Qantas. It flies shorter routes inside Australia. It links big cities with smaller towns.
Who is striking, and what do they do
The striking workers are ground staff, not pilots or cabin crew. Ground staff work on the ground at airports. They do not fly on planes.
Most of them move freight, which means goods sent by air. Some of that freight is mail for Australia Post. A smaller group supports QantasLink flights in Sydney.
The workers come from three Qantas companies. These are Qantas Airways Limited, Qantas Ground Services, and Australian Air Express. Their short names are QAL, QGS, and AAE.
Fewer than 600 workers could legally take part in this strike. That number comes from Qantas. It counts staff who voted for protected action.
Protected action is a legal term in Australia. It means workers voted to strike, and the law allows it. Not every worker can join such a strike.
Why the workers struck
The union says pay is the core issue. It wants pay in line with industry rates. Industry rates mean what similar workers earn elsewhere.
The union also wants more full-time jobs. Full-time work means steady hours each week. It wants guaranteed hours, so workers can plan their lives.
Safety is another demand from the union. It says splitting staff across three firms hurt safety. It says experience at airports has dropped as staff left.
The union also wants one Qantas banner for all these workers. One banner means one employer structure for the group. It says that would end workers competing against each other.
TWU national secretary Michael Kaine spoke for the workers. He said workers were forced to strike once again. He said the other choice was unsafe standards for staff and flyers.
Kaine also said Qantas turned proud careers into poor work. He said the airline must invest in its staff.
He called for fair pay and more full-time jobs. He also wants an end to staff rivalry.
What Qantas says
Qantas says it has backup plans in place. A spokesperson said customers would face no disruption. The airline repeated that point through the day.
"We are aware of planned industrial action by some of our freight and regional workgroups in Sydney and we have contingency plans in place," a Qantas spokesperson said. "Importantly there will be no disruption to our customers."
Qantas says these workers do not handle its main flights. They do not service Qantas domestic or international flights. They also do not handle QantasLink flights outside Sydney.
That is why Qantas says passenger flights were safe. Most strikers work in freight, not passenger flights. Only Sydney QantasLink ground work was touched.
Qantas also rejected the safety claims from the union. It said safety incidents have not risen since 2020. It said recordable injuries have actually gone down.
The airline says it wants a deal with its staff. It says it stays committed to fair agreements. It says new deals must give big pay rises.
The pay offer on the table
Qantas has put a new deal straight to Qantas Ground Services staff. The offer includes pay rises of up to 26 per cent. That rise would spread over the life of the deal.
The offer also includes back pay to September 2025. Back pay means money owed for past months. Workers would get that cash if they accept the deal.
The deal also offers more secure full-time and part-time roles. Secure roles mean steadier hours and steadier income. Qantas says the deal reflects what staff asked for.
The two sides have talked for some time. They even went before the Fair Work Commission in September. That body helps settle work disputes in Australia.
So far, no final deal has been struck. The strike is a sign that talks have stalled. Both sides still say they want an agreement.
Why this dispute runs deep
This fight did not start this week. It goes back to 2020, when Qantas cut about 1,800 ground jobs. The airline handed that work to outside firms.
Later, a court ruled that outsourcing unlawful. Unlawful means it broke the law. The TWU says those workers are among the last ground staff left at Qantas.
The union says some staff now earn less than contract workers. Contract workers are hired by outside firms, not Qantas. The union says that gap is unfair.
The union also points to a death in 2025. A Qantas freight worker died on Father's Day that year. A SafeWork probe into that death is still open.
SafeWork is the work safety body in Australia. A probe means it is still checking what happened. Travel Weekly reported the probe is ongoing.
This is also not the first strike this year. Ground staff struck in September as well. That month, they struck with Sydney Airport security screeners.
That earlier strike hit the news in a similar way. It raised the same themes of pay and job security. Readers who followed it can see a pattern here.
For background on that earlier stoppage, see our report on the Sydney airport security strike. Qantas has faced other airport trouble too. One case was the Qantas bed bug flight grounded in Perth.
Strikes are also part of wider work news. One example is the PSAC strike vote by federal workers.
What the strike means for travellers
If you flew Qantas on Wednesday, you likely saw no change. Qantas says passenger flights ran on time. Sydney QantasLink flights all left as planned.
Freight is a different story. The strike hit freight work at five airports. Qantas has not yet said how freight was hit.
Freight delays can affect parcels and mail. They can slow goods sent by air. Travellers with checked bags on QantasLink in Sydney should still check flight status first.
Travel Monitor gave the same advice to flyers. It said Sydney QantasLink flyers should check status before leaving home. That is a simple step that can save stress.
If you have a QantasLink flight from Sydney this week, check the airline app. Look for your flight number and departure time. If the time changed, the app will show it.
What happens next
The 24-hour strike ends on Thursday morning. After that, normal rosters should return. Freight backlogs, if any, should clear over the next days.
Talks between Qantas and the union will go on. Both sides say they want a deal. The gap now is over pay rates and job security.
More action is possible if talks fail again. The union has used strikes twice in two months. That shows it will act when talks stall.
Other airline disputes are brewing too. Virgin Australia cabin crew are set to vote on strikes. Their issues are also pay and work conditions.
That vote comes as the busy summer season nears. Summer is peak travel time in Australia. Unions often press claims before peak season starts.
For now, the key fact is simple. Workers struck for a day, and flights kept flying. The deeper fight over pay and job security is not over yet.
What to watch
Watch for the next round of talks between Qantas and the TWU. Watch for any new strike notice from the union. Watch for the Virgin Australia crew vote as well.
If you fly QantasLink from Sydney soon, check your flight status first. If you send freight by air, ask your sender about delays. Small checks now can avoid big problems later.
Related stories
How to Ask for a Raise With Data, Not Emotions
Ask for a raise with market data and documented results, not emotions. Research your rate from BLS wage tables, build an evidence file, run
How to Explain a Career Gap on Your Resume Honestly
A career gap is not a red flag if you explain it honestly: give a reason, show what you did, and point forward. Recruiters reveal the exact
How to Switch Careers at 30 With No Experience in the Field
A career change at 30 means repackaging a decade of transferable skills, not starting over. Map your skills, earn one certification,