QANTAS engineers say they are sick of the company's human resources (HR) managers telling them how to do their job as negotiations resume for the first time since the airline was grounded.

Steve Purvinas, secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, said Qantas was trying to get rid of 128 engineers who perform safety checks on each flight.

Such checks would only be conducted at the end of each day, he said, and the union wants the airline to retain 20 of those jobs to maintain a safety oversight over each flight.

"They just say we don't have to do anymore checks on aircraft that they think are unnecessary but we say they are required for safety reasons,'' Mr Purvinas said.

"Quite frankly, we're sick of Qantas and their HR managers telling us about safety and aircraft engineering.

"They don't know the difference between a wing and a wing nut.''

The parties have resumed discussions at Fair Work Australia in Melbourne today for the first time since the airline grounded its fleet last month.

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