AUSTRALIAN AIRLINE QANTAS has grounded all of its its aircraft around the world indefinitely due to ongoing strikes by its workers.

The Australian carrier’s entire fleet of 108 aircraft will remain grounded until unions representing pilots, mechanics and other ground staff reach an agreement with the airline over pay and conditions, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce told a news conference in Sydney.

“We have decided to ground the Qantas international and domestic fleets immediately,” Joyce said. He said that the decision had been forced upon the airline “by the actions of three unions”.

Flights already in the air when the announcement was made were to continue to their destinations.

A statement on the Qantas website says that employees involved in the industrial action will be locked out from Monday evening. Until that, all employees are expected to show up for work, but once the lock out is underway, they will not be paid and will not be required to show up for work.

The airline had been forced to reduce and reschedule flights for weeks because of a series of strikes and overtime work bans over staff concerns that their jobs are being moved overseas.

Joyce estimated the grounding will cost the airline $20 million a day.

Customers have been told that they will be provided with full refunds in the case of cancelled flights, and they will also be given the opportunity to rebook flights. Accommodation and transfers will also be provided for people who find themselves stranded.

A messaage on the Qantas website indicates that the situation could continue for some time, telling customers:

If you are travelling in the next few days/weeks, please monitor the situation on qantas.com.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian Transport Minister has called the action by Qantas a “breach of faith”, saying that the government was given just three hours warning before the grounding was made public.

- Additional reporting by AP