Slow motion … Qantas and its key unions are still in the midst of a tug-of-war. Photo: AFR

A DAMAGING game of cat and mouse between Qantas and its key unions will continue to disrupt the travel plans of thousands of passengers late this week, and threatens to escalate in the lead-up to Christmas.

After cancelling industrial action yesterday, the airline’s 1600 licensed aircraft engineers now plan to stop work for four hours on Friday. It has the potential to disrupt the plans of Wallabies fans travelling to the Rugby World Cup semi-final between Australia and New Zealand this weekend.

The Transport Workers Union has notified Qantas its members, including baggage handlers and caterers, will take a two-hour stoppage on Thursday if management does not put a ”concrete offer” on the table. Negotiations between Qantas and the union are scheduled to resume tomorrow.

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Jetstar’s check-in staff will also refuse to charge passengers for excess baggage for 24 hours from 3am on Friday, after negotiations over a new enterprise agreement broke down.

Despite the engineers calling off a four-hour stoppage yesterday, Qantas said it was too late to reinstate 40 flights that had been cancelled. ”You just can’t turn an airline on and off,” Olivia Wirth, a Qantas spokeswoman, said.

The engineers’ union said it had cancelled the strike yesterday after the company sent notices threatening to withhold up to seven hours pay from its members. Qantas rejected the claim.

Meanwhile, Fijian police have charged the Fiji Airline Pilots’ Association secretary, Australian Shalend Scott, over the leaking of documents that embarrassed the national carrier, Air Pacific, part-owned by Qantas.

A hearing is scheduled for October 21.

with AAP