Posted by 
Almost 500 Qantas workers will walk off the job today, sparking fears of airport chaos on one of the busiest travel days of the year.
Today marks the start of the summer travel holiday period on the east coast, with 13.5 million people expected to move through capital city airports in the next six weeks.
Line maintenance workers will carry out a stoppage from 3.30am today to 7.30am tomorrow at Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide airports.
READ MORE: US man found in Syria prison months after going missing
The workers are repsonsible for towing and marshalling aircraft.
The strike was organised by the Qantas Engineers' Alliance, a coalition of members from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, the Australian Workers' Union, and the Electrical Trades Union.
The Alliance has called for a wage claim of 5 per cent per year, with a 15 per cent first-year increase.
They say this is in response to a 3.5-year wage freeze and will bring their pay in line with industry standards.
READ MORE: Trump named Time's Person of the Year again
AMWU national secretary Steve Murphy said workers had "in good faith" agreed to no industrial action for the past six weeks.
"Workers have no other choice now, that during the holiday period, they will be taking industrial action to bring Qantas back to the bargaining table," he said.
"Qantas is to blame if there's any disruption to commuters over the holiday period."
Workers have also voted in favour of another stoppage next Friday, December 20, along with dozens of partial work bans.
READ MORE: Queensland's first TV star Hugh Cornish dies, aged 90
Qantas said a number of contingencies were in place to ensure smooth travel for customers despite the strike.
"Passengers should head to the airport as they normally would," the statement read.
"As always, unplanned maintenance issues, weather, or other events may impact operations on the day."
A spokesperson did urge people to allow for extra time at security due to the busy holiday period.
"We're offering our engineers a competitive package including pay rises, upskilling and career progression that will enable them to earn significantly more over the next few years," the spokesperson said.
DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
