Hundreds of Qantas ground, freight and security workers are staging a 24-hour strike today across four Australian capital cities, and domestic flyers are the ones who'll feel it.
The Transport Workers' Union says staff from Qantas subsidiaries QGS and AAE — the crews that handle freight, including Australia Post parcels — plus QantasLink employees began stopping work this morning at Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth airports. Planned action at Melbourne was postponed, so the southern capital is, for now, in the clear.
In Sydney, the stoppage centres on Terminal 3, Qantas's domestic hub, and it's not just Qantas staff. Up to 400 Certis security screeners are running two-hour work stoppages through the day, with another three-hour stoppage flagged for 28 September, plus an evening walkout from 6pm. Brisbane's domestic terminal, Perth's Qantas Freight International Terminal and Adelaide Airport are all affected. The union has signalled this isn't a one-off — further action is possible if the pay dispute isn't resolved.
Workers are asking for pay in line with industry standards, more full-time roles and hours, and for work groups split across multiple subsidiaries to be brought back under one Qantas banner. The TWU argues the fragmented structure has eroded experience and safety at airports, pointing to the death of a Qantas Freight worker last year. TWU national secretary Michael Kaine framed the dispute as being about the future of Australian aviation, calling on management to treat staff as an investment rather than a cost. In Sydney, the union directed criticism at the airport itself, saying the country's most profitable airport should fund the security contractors properly.
Qantas says it has contingency plans in place and expects to keep disruption to a minimum, but anyone booked on Qantas or QantasLink today shouldn't rely on that alone. If you're flying domestically out of any of the four affected cities, check your flight status directly with the airline before leaving for the airport, allow extra time for check-in and baggage drop, and think twice about tight connections — a missed link because of a delayed bag or a short-staffed counter is the most likely headache here.
Travellers with flights on 28 September in Sydney should also keep an eye on updates, given the longer screener stoppage planned for that day. Freight delays, including Australia Post items moving through Qantas Freight, may lag behind the passenger disruption.
Strikes like this are unpredictable, but the practical playbook is simple: monitor your flight, arrive early, keep essentials in carry-on rather than checked luggage, and build buffer time into any same-day connections. If your plans are flexible and you're not flying until later in the week, it's worth watching whether the dispute escalates or gets resolved before you travel.
