DOZENS of Qantas flights are cancelled, engineers down their tools and the plans of thousands of travellers are thrown into disarray.
The chaotic picture represents the worst-case scenario for Qantas passengers as the flying kangaroo squares off against three unions.
In the one corner are union members fighting for wage rises and greater job security for Qantas workers against a potential expansion in offshore activities.
Qantas Group guards the other corner, arguing the union demands would only jeopardise jobs by making it more difficult to compete.
The airline only narrowly dodged work stoppages for this week after the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association guaranteed to hold off on strike action for a month.
It came after the cancellation of work stoppages planned for Friday, leaving Qantas to suddenly reinstate 31 cancelled flights.
But the simmering dispute is far from over, with the threat of further industrial action by unions representing maintenance workers, ground crew and pilots.
It comes at a time when the 90-year-old carrier should be celebrating its longevity with the release of a documentary championing its pioneering spirit.
Shot by The Film Bakery, it contains unseen footage from the Qantas archives.
For producer Ben Allan, the documentary tells the story of a national airline's survival through almost a century of rapid change.
``Because of that sense of pride in this national icon and its history, whenever they are perceived to be doing something that doesn't feel right to the general public, there is an even stronger sense of being cheated,'' Mr Allan said.
``It is a delicate balance. Qantas can't just survive as a national icon, they have to survive in their own right as a business.''
But Qantas workers fear the latest changes in the Qantas story could relegate maintenance crews to the history books.
ALAEA federal secretary Steve Purvinas said the amount of Qantas work being sent offshore was steadily growing, but would soar on the back of plans by Qantas to carry out heavy maintenance on its A380 aircraft overseas.
``It is likely to lead to a higher rate of incidents on Qantas aircraft and it already has,'' Mr Purvinas said.
``I have seen the state of some of the aircraft that have returned from overseas facilities. We had a 737 return from Malaysia with 95 active defects when it landed.''
Qantas, meanwhile, insists the safety claims are unfounded, saying its 6000 Australian-employed engineers carry out 93 per cent of its maintenance work.
``We just cannot accept union demands for a veto on change which would damage Qantas, restrict our business and jeopardise the jobs of their members and all other Qantas employees,'' Qantas operations executive Lyell Strambi said in a statement.
But the airline has vowed all options will be considered as part of a review of its international operations as overseas Qantas routes continue to lose money.
The Australian and International Pilots Association believes this will lead to more Australian pilots losing out to overseas pilots on less pay.
It warns safety is being put on the line by the use of overseas pilots on some Jetstar routes and transTasman flights by the Qantas-brand, Jetconnect.
More than 20 years ago, Qantas was given a ringing endorsement in the hit film Rain Man when Dustin Hoffman, playing an autistic savant, uttered: ``Qantas never crashed.''
But in 2008, the shine was threatening to come off after a series of scares, leading to an investigation by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. That year, three Qantas planes in little more than a week were forced to make emergency landings.
Pilot safety is now the subject of a Senate inquiry after concerns about pilot fatigue and slipping standards were aired by independent Senator Nick Xenophon.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has told the inquiry the airline would never put costs above safety, with pilot training exceeding minimum requirements.
Intense competition, high fuel prices, natural disasters and the financial crunch are taking their toll on the aviation industry.
And any union strike action is likely to send Qantas passengers straight into the arms of Virgin.
Virgin is attempting to break the Qantas stranglehold on the lucrative corporate travel sector.
Qantas caters for about 90 per cent of the domestic business class market compared to rival Virgin's 10 per cent.
But all that could change if Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson succeeds in doubling Virgin's share of the market by winning over business class travellers.
In a provocative opening salvo, the businessman flew into Sydney early this month, declaring he would ``wipe the floor with Qantas'' by reinventing the carrier.
Just to pile on the misery for Qantas, the business class war comes as airlines struggle to absorb massive price rises in the cost of oil and the continuing slump in international tourism.
As laid out in The Sunday Mail:
As laid out in The Sunday Mail:
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