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New Zealand travellers flying on Australian airline Qantas could be grounded by a strike by Qantas engineers from January 9.
Qantas' planes require clearance by an engineer before they can take off, but with about 1700 engineers engaging in four-hour rolling stoppages they will be grounded, the Dominion Post newspaper reports.
The workers are demanding a 5 per cent pay rise while Qantas has offered 3 per cent.
The House of Travel released a statement on Friday warning travellers about the potential disruption.
"Delays are inevitable," said House of Travel retail director Brent Thomas.
He said there was a high likelihood the strike would go ahead and it would be the biggest disruption to air travel in Australia since a 1989 pilot's strike.
House of Travel alone had 3000 customers travelling on Qantas planes and 10,000 people travelling through Australia through the strike period.
The strike could affect other airlines that rely on Qantas engineers.
Air New Zealand has denied speculation that it will help Qantas during the strike.
The strike action is limited to Qantas engineers, meaning Jetconnect, Qantas' domestic service in New Zealand with trans-Tasman flights from Wellington, are not affected. Qantas budget brand Jetstar is also unaffected.
- NZPA
