It now appears that the Qantas engineers have called on the air safety regulator to investigate the airline. The engineers want them to investigate Qantas for safety breaches that have allegedly been committed by managers during a long running industrial dispute.

The Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists, and Managers Australia now claims that Qantas managers, who have replaced them at night, are taking shortcuts. They are allegedly hiding engineering reports and lowering safety margins.

They went on to cite one example on a Boeing 737 aircraft. Apparently this plane was allowed to fly with a cracked cockpit window. This increases the risk of cabin decompression, and they say that there are other examples of bad engineering decisions as well.

The union, which does represent professional engineers who check Qantas faults and sign off on repairs, said that the Boeing 737-800 was incorrectly cleared to fly from Sydney to Canberra. It then went from Canberra to Darwin and back before it was finally grounded. The union estimates about 400 passengers were put at risk because of this one bad call.

Of course, as many people can already guess, Qantas has rejected these accusations. A spokeswoman for the company said that they are very confident that standards are being upheld and subject to regulatory engagement and approval. All of their contingency arrangements are undertaken by certified engineers.

This is yet another example of a union bumping heads with an airline. This has been happening all over the world. However, one of the most media covered events between an airline and a union is happening in the UK. There, British Airways has been in an all out war with the Unite union that is representing the company’s cabin crew.