Sydney - Qantas has been unable to reach a new agreement with the Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) and both parties have concluded that Fair Work Australia will need to resolve the dispute.

Neither Qantas nor the union sought a 21 day extension to negotiations.

Qantas has negotiated in good faith for 15 months with the ALAEA, which included over 40 meetings, plus a further seven days of meetings before Fair Work Australia over recent weeks.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said while Qantas' preferred option had been to resolve the dispute through negotiations, it was now time to let Fair Work Australia bring the matter to a close.

"We haven't been able to reach a new agreement with the ALAEA so we will now let the independent umpire decide," Mr Joyce said.

"We will continue to explore any opportunities with the licensed engineers' union to reduce the number of matters that need to be arbitrated on."

"Qantas customers have returned in large numbers since we resumed flying and they can continue to book flights with absolute confidence that their flights will not be disrupted by industrial action."