It seems like the Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QNA) share price has taken a back seat and allowed the Regional Express Holdings Ltd (ASX: REX) share price to take the front.
The Qantas share price is down 1.51% to $5.23 per share while the Rex share price is up 5.32% in late afternoon trading.
Let's take a look at what's happening with airline shares today.
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Experts believe the Qantas share price can go higher
Fund manager Perennial and broker Macquarie are both bullish about Qantas' future prospects, as covered by my colleague Cathryn Goh.
Both parties expressed their optimism for Qantas' outlook, believing demand for travel will continue to rise as people shift spending away from personal consumption to leisure activities.
These experts present the bull case but some sections of the market have noted the airline's dubious decision to engage in a $400 million share buyback.
There have also been grave concerns about the lack of staff causing major constraints to Qantas' ability to meet demand.
As reported by Reuters, rival Virgin Australia is also experiencing staffing issues, noting its high staff illness rates were hampering capacity, forcing it to lift fares for domestic flights.
Qantas has come under fire recently for the rise in flight delays and cancellations. The problems have been attributed to a shortage of airport workers and high staff illness levels.
Rex leads the way
But where Qantas and Virgin have stumbled, Rex has taken a more proactive approach to address the labour shortage.
Today, the regional airline announced it has signed new industrial agreements with two key sections of its workforce.
Rex noted there was overwhelming staff support, with 75% of flight attendants and 92% of engineers voting in favour of the enterprise agreements.
The new enterprise agreements will be valid for three years for flight attendants and four years for engineers and include pay rises for both groups.
Perhaps Qantas may need to take a leaf out of Rex's playbook and tackle the labour issue.
The Qantas share price could be under the pump after some negative headlines concerning CEO Alan Joyce receiving almost $80 million since 2012 and a $287,000 pay bump.
Qantas share price snapshot
In the last year, the Qantas share price has fallen 3.5% but has managed to gain 12% in the past month.
By comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down 8% in the past year and is 3% lower in the last month.
Qantas has a market capitalisation of $9.88 billion.
Qantas shares are currently trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of around eight times.
