Qantas Freight Strike: 24 Hours Across Five Australian Airports

Hundreds of Qantas ground and freight handling workers walked off the job for 24 hours on 28 October at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth airports, and the Transport Workers Union has signalled the dispute is far from settled. It was the second such stoppage in five weeks, after a similar 24-hour strike on 24 September.

Who walked out, and when does it end?

The workers belong to the Transport Workers Union and sit across three entities: Qantas Ground Services, Australian Air Express and Qantas Airways Limited. The action ran from the morning of 28 October, ending at 4:59 am in Sydney and Adelaide, 9:59 am in Melbourne, and 6:59 pm in Brisbane and Perth on 29 October. About 600 of the Qantas group's 32,000 employees were eligible to strike.

What cargo is exposed?

Mostly freight. These crews handle Qantas Freight terminal operations, including Australia Post contract mail, plus some QantasLink ground services in Sydney. Qantas stressed that its freight terminals remained operational with contingency measures in place, that critical and time-sensitive cargo was being prioritised, and that there was no disruption to passenger flights as of 9 am on 28 October. Freight operations at the newer Western Sydney International Airport were not affected.

Why does this dispute keep flaring?

The union wants pay aligned with industry standards, more full-time roles, and the fragmented workforce brought back under a single Qantas structure. Qantas has put a proposed enterprise agreement directly to QGS employees that includes back pay from September 2025, increases of up to 26 per cent over the life of the agreement, and more guaranteed hours for part-timers. The union's leverage is partly historical: the 2020 outsourcing of roughly 1,800 ground jobs was ruled illegal by the Federal Court, drawing a 90 million Australian dollar fine plus 120 million dollars in compensation, and a Qantas Freight worker died in September 2025 with a SafeWork investigation still open.

What should shippers do now?

Build in buffer time. Qantas has advised customers to allow additional processing time during the affected periods, and the strike landed just as the November-December peak season approaches. If negotiations stall again, a third stoppage is plausible. Book urgent consignments early and confirm alternative flights or gateways with your forwarder; consider shifting routine replenishment to sea freight and reserving air capacity for genuinely urgent cargo. Watch TWU and Qantas announcements through November, since ballot-backed action can be called with relatively little notice.

For transit-time references on Australia-bound consolidations and full containers, see our Australia lane page; enquiries: sales@ruixincargo.com.

Source: As reported by Aviation Today / Region Canberra (PS News) / SBS.