ABC AUSTRALIA - NO ACCESS AUSTRALIA / .COM.AU INTERNET SITES / ANY INTERNET SITE OF ANY AUSTRALIAN BASED MEDIA ORGANISATIONS OR MOBILE PLATFORMS / AUSTRALIAN NVO CLIENTS / SMH.COM.AU / NEWS.COM.AU**~<br/> The decision by Australian airline Qantas to ground its entire fleet because of a long-running labour dispute has left thousands of passengers stranded around the globe.<br/> The move was announced by Qantas boss Alan Joyce.<br/> SOUNDBITE: Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive Officer, saying (English):<br/> "This is a crisis for Qantas. If the action continues as the unions have promised, we will have no choice but to close down Qantas part by part."<br/> Anger was the immediate reaction of many passengers stranded at Australia's Perth Airport.<br/> SOUNDBITE: Zoe Johnson, Australian living in Switzerland, saying (English):<br/> "I'm proudly Australian but it just leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. So many people say 'I'm never going to fly Qantas again' and from my point of view it just feels like a bullying tactic really."<br/> SOUNDBITE: British tourist Lynn Gray saying (English):<br/> "They just sort of said 'unfortunately flights, internal and domestic and international, are cancelled so sort yourselves out, bye.'"<br/> The airline's cancelled more than 600 flights.<br/> An estimated 70, 000 passengers are affected.<br/> Qantas says it's responding to a dispute with its workforce from pilots through to caterers who've staged strikes since September over pay and cost cutting plans.<br/> The announcement appears to have taken the government by surprise.<br/> Australia's transport minister says the government will step in.<br/> SOUNDBITE: Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese saying (English):<br/> "I would hope that the parties to the dispute act like adults, and acknowledge that there is a common interest here between Qantas management and its employees."<br/> In a further twist Qantas has also said it would lock out all its employees from Monday evening.<br/> Paul Chapman, Reuters
