Qantas assured its passengers on Thursday that the strike-prone flag carrier would not suffer from another industrial action for the next four years.

The promise is based on the decision of the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) not to launch an appeal against the decision by Fair Work Australia (FWA) to terminate all industrial action. However, TWU would support the pilot union's planned court appeal to overturn the FWA ruling.

TWU said it would instead push for a standard aviation award for the whole industry, which would include workers at Virgin, Jetstar and other Australian air carriers.

"Qantas management have been saying that the reason they shut down (the fleet) is because of industry pressure. They have released numerous statements over the course of the year saying any attempts to negotiate above Virgin's pay rate would mean they are not able to remain competitive," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted TWU National Secretary Tony Sheldon.

"If Qantas management are serious about staying competitive in the Australian aviation industry, they will support an industry-wide award," he added.

With the TWU stand, Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said passengers can book flights with confidence that the massive disruption which happened the past few weeks would not be repeated.

"The FWA ruling means that these three unions are unable to take industial action for the upcoming period of arbitration and for the period of the EBA determination by Fair Work Australia - which could be up to four years," Ms Wirth said in a statement.

However, observers said she did not take into account the pilots' union's appeal, which TWU backed.

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