We may fly Qantas again — but not because Alan asked us to

Down Under flew home to Brisbane from Sydney this afternoon on a Qantas jet that took off on time and offered not only friendly service with a smile, but free food and a complimentary beverage (yes, beer and wine included).

They are obviously making a pitch for my future flying dollars.

Waiting on the laptop was the following email from Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO and the guy everyone's been loving to hate during the airline's stoush with unions over fair treatment of workers.

It was Joyce who ordered all Qantas planes grounded Saturday, which stretched into Sunday — when an arbitration court ordered the carrier to start flying again — which bled into Monday and much of Tuesday, as Qantas cleared a backlog of angry, delayed passengers — many of them vowing never to fly Qantas again, we're guessing.

Fair Work decision means certainty for Qantas Frequent Flyers

Hello Freya (Qantas Frequent Flyer # *****) 

Now that Qantas has resumed normal operations I would like to update you on what the recent decision by Fair Work Australia means for you.

I apologize sincerely for any inconvenience that you or your family experienced during the grounding of the Qantas fleet between Saturday evening and Monday afternoon.

The decision to lock out some of our employees was an immensely difficult one and one that I did not want to have to make. But it was a decision that we were driven to by the industrial action of three unions, together representing less than 20 percent of Qantas employees.

As of last Friday, industrial action by those unions had forced the cancelation of hundreds of flights, disrupted 70,000 passengers and cost Qantas $68 million. Two union leaders had warned that industrial action could continue into next year.

This would have had a devastating effect on our customers, on all Qantas employees and on the businesses which depend on Qantas services.

On Saturday, I came to the conclusion that this crisis had to end. I made the decision to proceed with a lock-out, the only form of protected industrial action available to Qantas under the Fair Work Act, so that agreement could be reached quickly.

Unfortunately, it was necessary as a precautionary measure to ground the fleet immediately after the announcement that a lock-out would take place. While I deeply regret the short-term impact of the fleet being grounded, following the Fair Work Australia decision we now have absolute certainty for our customers. No further industrial action can take place. No more aircraft will be grounded and no services canceled as a result of industrial action.

You can now book Qantas flights with complete confidence. This is an immeasurably better situation than last Friday, when Qantas faced the prospect of ongoing disruptions, perhaps for another 12 months.

We have now moved into 21 days of negotiations with each of the unions with the assistance of Fair Work Australia. All parties will be treated equally in order to reach reasonable agreements. If this cannot happen, binding arbitration will take place to secure an outcome. We will respect whatever decisions are reached.

Regardless of how and when the agreements are reached, the period of uncertainty and instability for Qantas is over. We are moving forward and putting this dispute behind us.

Our focus now is on our customers. We want to restore your faith by returning our on-time performance to its normal high levels, continuing to invest in new aircraft and lounges and ensuring the best possible in-flight experience. The end of industrial action means we can concentrate on what matters — getting you to your destination on time and in comfort, offering the best network and frequency of any Australian airline and rewarding your loyalty as a Qantas Frequent Flyer.

Thank you for your patience and for your continued support of Qantas.

Alan Joyce
CEO Qantas Airways 

What can we say — a complimentary beverage is a complimentary beverage. We'll consider it.