Virgin says flights on track despite engineers gearing up to strike

Virgin Australia says passengers will not suffer service disruptions despite hundreds of the carrier’s licensed engineers gearing up to strike at airports across the country next week over pay and conditions.

Almost all of Virgin’s licensed engineers, employed by Virgin Tech and members of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association, have voted in favour of the protected industrial action, which is expected to start from Tuesday.

The association’s federal secretary Steve Purvinas told this masthead the Bain Capital-owned airline should be prepared for additional demonstrations ahead of its initial public offering, expected to occur later this year.

“From next Tuesday hundreds of Virgin engineers will walk off the job because the airline simply will not listen. This will happen every day until Virgin treat their staff fairly.”

“It seems the Americans running these companies don’t understand industrial relations in Australia. We understand staff dissatisfaction with the Virgin group is widespread and beyond engineering, and Virgin are likely to face further industrial action which will disrupt their float,” he added.

A spokesman for Virgin said that services should not be affected by the planned strike.

“There will be no disruption to aircraft maintenance or operations as a result of the planned industrial action.”

The industrial action has caught Virgin on the hop, as negotiations between it and the engineers are still under way. The airline and the workers are scheduled to meet next Wednesday to discuss the airline’s existing pay offer, which includes a 3 per cent pay increase for the next three years.

Virgin issued employees a 6 per cent profit share payment earlier this month, which amounted to six per cent of their salary, in light of the group’s improved performance.