In an ongoing dispute between Qantas airlines and its engineers, the carrier has been accused of hiding details of technical incidents with senior engineering staff. APESMA, which is the union that is currently representing Qantas’ engineers, claim that engineers have been left in the dark regarding recent incidents. This does include the recent Qantas flight which arrived in Brisbane 17 hours late after two of the airline’s jets reported technical problems.

Alison Rose, the union’s senior industrial officer, said that engineers need to have access to all of the information and documents on each aircraft that they do any kind of work on. She went on to say that their members are concerned that, due to this practice of not providing information, they are working in the dark.

This union, which his currently in a pay dispute with Qantas, is now calling for a full investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. A spokesman for Qantas, David Epstein, has rejected these claims. He went on to say that this is nothing more than another opportunistic attempt by the union to use scare tactics around safety to advance its industrial agenda.

Epstein said that the APESMA’s industrial campaign commenced on November 13^th of 2009. The airline has enhanced engineering documentation and oversight procedures in place since that day. Highly qualified and experienced engineering managers are certifying work, which is then subject to detailed peer review. The airline is absolutely confident that they are meeting all of their regulator obligations, and the suitable communication and work flow arrangements are in place.

This dispute between Qantas and its engineers has been going on for quite some time. The airline has been asking all of its passengers not to buy into all of the so-called rumors that the union has been spreading.