SYDNEY (Reuters) - Passengers at Australia's airports were hit by disruptions on Monday as up to 6,000 Qantas Airways Ltd staff staged a 24-hour strike over demands for better pay and conditions.þþAustralia's biggest airline was forced to reschedule hundreds of domestic flights and draft in management to replace some striking check-in, sales and maintenance staff as industrial action hit services for the second time this month.þþ``Certainly you'd be right to say hundreds of flights have been either rescheduled, or consolidated and some have been canceled,'' said Qantas spokesman Michael Sharp.þþHowever, the airline said 95 percent of its flights still left on time or within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure and no international flights were canceled.þþThe carrier disputed estimates by the Australian Services Union (ASU) that almost 170 domestic flights were pulled and some passengers were delayed by up to three hours.þþ``We think we've made our point to Qantas, whether or not they get it will be the next thing I guess,'' said Linda White, assistant national secretary of the ASU.þþThe union is demanding a 10 percent pay increase over two years and greater job security from one of the world's most profitable airlines, which currently has a six percent pay deal on the table.þþ``We'll make an approach to see if they'll meet with us again, see if we can have further talks and get them to move. If we can't, we can't rule out further industrial action,'' said White.þþDespite the disruptions, Qantas stock was unaffected by the strike, which had been well flagged and will not affect revenue.þþShares in the carrier rose two percent to A$4.65 in afternoon trade, around the mid-point of its recent trading range and outpacing a modest gain in the overall market.þþAnalysts said the market was concentrating more on the group's 2002/03 profit result on Wednesday, when it is expected to post a A$428 million ($235 million) annual net profit.þþQantas, which is 21 percent owned by British Airways Plc, was protected from much of the turmoil in the international aviation industry after the U.S. attacks of September 11 by the collapse of its domestic competitor Ansett.þþIt dominates around 80 percent of the A$10 billion domestic market, which it shares with Virgin Blue, owned by British entrepreneur Richard Branson and Australia's Patrick Corp Ltdþþ
Source: NY Times
