QF pilots vote in approval for Project Sunrise pay deal
https://amp.smh.com.au/business/comp...30-p54f8y.html
Qantas' international pilot group has voted in favour of a new pay deal which the airline said was the final obstacle to it launching new non-stop flights to London and New York.
But the airline's ambitious "Project Sunrise" is on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has devastated airlines globally, despite pilots backing the plan to launch ultra-long haul flights from Sydney and Melbourne in 2023.
On Monday, the airline wrote to pilots confirming that the new enterprise bargaining agreement had been voted up, with 85 per cent backing the deal.
"Reaching an agreement... means that we have now met the Flight Operations component of the Project Sunrise business case," Qantas chief pilot Captain Richard Tobiano said in an email to pilots, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
"The extraordinary circumstances facing aviation has seen Airbus agree to extend the deadline on our decision to purchase the A350s so we can focus on navigating the coronavirus crisis.
"When this period has passed, and it will, we will refocus our attention on Project Sunrise and the A350 order."