Fair Work Act 2009

s.240 - Bargaining dispute

Alliance Airlines Pty Limited Trading AS Alliance Airlines, Bravo Airlines Pty Ltd Trading AS Bravo Airlines

Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP); Transport Workers' Union of Australia (TWU)

Application to resolve bargaining dispute regarding the proposed Alliance Group Perth Pilots' Enterprise Agreement 2025

• [1] Alliance Airlines Pty Limited (Alliance) commenced negotiations with the Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) and the Transport Workers' Union (TWU) on 2 July 2024 to replace the Alliance Group Perth Pilots' Enterprise Agreement 2020 (2020 Agreement). The parties have held a number of meetings between July 2024 and June 2025.

• [2] The parties have been bargaining for over twelve months. After an unsuccessful vote on the proposed agreement in November 2025, Alliance made an application to the Commission to conduct a bargaining conference under s.240 of the Fair Work Act. I conducted a conference over two days on 8 December and 9 December 2025.

• [3] My Chambers issued directions for the parties to identify the five key issues in dispute.

• [4] Following a survey of their members, the unions identified the issues. The first four issues relate to: day of operations roster protections, rostering protections for changes within 7 days, the number of RDOs per roster period, and rostering protections leading into and out of annual leave. The fifth issue has many subparts and involved the unions claiming that clauses within the proposed agreement were ambiguous. The AFAP identified 39 subclauses as needing amendments "to improve clarity and reduce potential disputation". Some of the proposed amendments relate to the first four key issues, others do not.

• [5] The parties discussed Alliance agreements in other states and recent outcomes such as the Network Aviation Pilots Workplace Determination 2025[1] and the Virgin Australia Regional Airlines Pilots' Enterprise Agreement 2024.[2]

• [6] Given the number and scope of the issues raised, I was not able to resolve all the matters in dispute to a final stage. The parties have exchanged views and have drafted potential amendments and have made some progress. The parties will meet again in January 2026 for the employer to provide a response to all the proposed amendments and claims. The employer has, in good faith, offered to provide an additional RDO to pilots - that is, for a total of 9 RDOs - for the roster period commencing 2 February 2026.

Following the meeting of the parties in January 2026, the parties may then request the assistance of the Commission. I can make myself available for a further bargaining conference in January or early February 2026, ideally with a narrower list of the key issues preventing an agreement being voted up.

[1] AG530144 PR790912

[2] AE530934 PR793165

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