An Australian tribunal ordered Qantas Airways to put its planes back into the air, intervening in the nation's most dramatic labour dispute in a decade after the national carrier grounded its entire global fleet.
Qantas had taken the drastic step at the weekend to ground all flights, disrupting nearly 70,000 passengers and bringing to a head a bitter battle with trade unions over pay, working conditions and its plan to base more operations in Asia.
Qantas's action left the government with no option but to step in and demand the tribunal make an urgent ruling on the dispute, which had been bleeding an airline that carries about a fifth of Australia's international passengers.
The airline plans to have passengers on board its first commercial flight by 2pm (3am Irish time) Mr Joyce said, but he added that the airline will only operate a limited schedule until Tuesday at the earliest.
Qantas CEO Joyce yesterday announced a grounding of the entire Qantas fleet and an unpaid lock-out of union staff, which saw around 70,000 passengers stranded in 22 cities around the world.
The airline said the grounding was aimed at ending three months of sporadic strikes by baggage handlers, pilots and engineers unions, which was costing Qantas Aus$15m (US$16m) per week.
But the airline will not be able to return to normal service until Tuesday at the earliest, Mr Joyce added.
"We have to do it cautiously, obviously safety is going to be our number one priority and part of our safety case is ramping the airline in safe manner," he said.
The ruling by Fair Work Australia will bring relief to tens of thousands of stranded passengers left in limbo since the airline locked out staff and cancelled all flights indefinitely yesterday.
Fair Work Australia was appointed by the government after Qantas grounded its entire global fleet, affecting almost 500 flights and more than 68,000 passengers.
Qantas and the three unions now have 21 days to reach an agreement or face binding arbitration, the tribunal said.
The Australian government said it was pleased with the ruling after what Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten called "a day of turmoil".
Prime Minister Julia Gillard had taken the rare step of ordering in the workplace mediator to try to find a quick resolution to the dispute.
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