Industrial relations headaches at Qantas Airways have taken a turn for the worse.

Qantas pilots belonging to the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) announced on Thursday plans to stage a strike after enterprise bargaining negotiations with management bogged down.

The pilots threatened to launch industrial action by May 19 if no change is made in the management's stand on job security aspects of the talks.

The AIPA threat comes on the eve of a one-hour work stop set for Friday morning by the airline's engineers pressing for pay and job security in their own negotiations with Qantas, which has bared plans to outsource maintenance work overseas.

A statement from AIPA indicated that Qantas is not negotiating seriously and the pilots have opted to "draw a line in the sand."

"Qantas management has had our claims since October last year," said the statement from APIA president Barry Jackson.

"Since that time they have not given a single indication that they are willing to take our proposed job security provisions seriously."

The pilots' group claimed their demand is "very straightforward" and that they were not asking for security provisions for them to be exempted from dismissal.

"If it's a Qantas flight it should be operated by a Qantas pilot. It's that simple," the AIPA statement said.

Official reaction from Qantas is still to be issued.