As Qantaslink moves to bigger and more environmentally friendly aircraft, the inevitable end is coming for the maintenance facility at Tamworth.
QantasLink has today informed its engineering employees that it is ending its heavy maintenance operations in Tamworth in September.
The regional airline has recently completed a review of its maintenance operations across the country, following the decision to add additional Dash 8 Q400 aircraft to its fleet and gradually phase out the smaller Q200 and Q300 aircraft. The Q400 is already flying to Moree and other locations.
The Q400 can operate into almost all the destinations serviced by the smaller aircraft, but is 30 per cent faster and produces less carbon emissions per passenger than the Q300. 14 Q400s, each seating up to 78 people, will replace the 19 Q300 and Q200 aircraft, which seat 50 and 36 passengers respectively.
With the retirement of the Q200 and Q300s, which have been maintained in Tamworth in recent years, there will be no engineering requirements in Tamworth for the foreseeable future.
There are 41 permanent QantasLink employees and 10 contractors who will lose their jobs, but are being offered redeployment in other parts of the Qantas Group, with 5 roles available in Tamworth.
QantasLink CEO Rachel Yangoyan said the airline was committed to working with affected employees to
support them through the transition and will commence consultation with employees and unions today.
“As a result of the investment in more modern aircraft and the phasing out of older aircraft reducing maintenance requirements in Tamworth, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to close our Tamworth heavy maintenance from mid-September,” Ms Yangoyan said.
“We know that this will be a tough day for our Tamworth engineers and their families and we are committed to supporting them through this transition.
“We value their skills and experience and will be offering redeployment opportunities across the Qantas Group for all those who wish to stay and relocate to other maintenance bases. We will also look at further training, upskilling and transition support.”
The Tamworth maintenance facility was embroiled in a significant pay dispute last year, with claims on-staff engineers were paid half what contractors at the same facility were getting. The AMWU claimed QantasLink Tamworth aircraft maintenance workers are the lowest paid in the industry.
Local MP Kevin Anderson has called for the company to reverse the decision and keep the facility open, describing the logical move to close the soon-to-be redundant facility as “a complete shock”.
“I have spoken to the CEO of QantasLink and called on them to immediately reverse the decision and work with the local community to look at ways to include Tamworth in the maintenance program for any new aircraft in their fleet,” he said.
“Tamworth needs a growing aviation industry, not a shrinking one, and it’s bitterly disappointing that QantasLink have made the harsh decision to pull services away from our region.”
QantasLink’s operation in Tamworth continues to support more than 25 local jobs and none of these are
impacted by this decision. There are also no changes to the QantasLink flying schedule in Tamworth.
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