October 29, 5pm: Television news broadcasts lead with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce announcing the immediate grounding of the carrier's fleet in a press conference at the company's Mascot offices in Sydney.

October 29, 5.18pm: afr.com posts its Qantas lead, featuring breaking news of the Qantas press conference. This story anchors afr.com's continuous coverage of the grounding over the next 37 hours, with round the clock updates from editors and reporters on location, in the AFR's Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra bureaux, and working from home. The article provides readers with a reliable entry point to the full breadth of afr.com news, analysis and traveller resources. The article makes full use of text, multimedia, images, anchored links for easy navigation and hyperlinks to external resources to provide a complete picture of the latest developments and how the event unfolded. It quickly builds in must-have travel advisories for stranded passengers as well as business, political and union reaction. AFR editors compile the report from numerous sources including AFR reporters, wire services, social media and television and radio broadcasts. As the story is posted a decision is taken to lower the paywall on all afr.com Qantas coverage throughout the crisis.

October 29, 7.54pm: afr.com posts its first analysis of the grounding, with aviation reporter Andrew Cleary commenting on Qantas chief Joyce's gamble on grounding the fleet in a bid to end ongoing threats of industrial action.

October 29, 7.59pm: afr.com posts a wrap of global media reaction to the grounding.

October 29, 8.42pm: afr.com posts its first political analysis of the Qantas grounding, exploring whether the carrier hopes to use the bid to force the federal government to permanently resolve ongoing industrial disputes involving the company.

October 29, 8.56pm: afr.com posts its first industrial relations analysis of the ground.

October 29, 8.58pm: afr.com posts a traveller advisory for Qantas passengers stranded in airports around the globe. The advisory breaks out details first covered in the AFR's Qantas lead, providing a quick to access resource for travellers. The advisory is prompted on social media.

October 29, 10.20pm: Prime Minister Julia Gillard comments publicly on the grounding, defending her government's handling of the Qantas industrial dispute in the months leading up to October 29.

October 29, 10.20pm - October 30, 10.17am: afr.com continues to update its lead breaking news story, incorporating the first night of Fair Work Australia hearings into the industrial dispute that brought about the grounding, as well as additional travel advisories and further reaction, using AFR resources and resources from across the internet, including the UK Telegraph video embed shown below.

October 30, 10.18am: Political jockeying for position on the dispute is well under way, with Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten appearing on ABC TV to attack Qantas for what he says is a "high-handed ambush".

October 30, 11.33am: Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott joins the fray, claiming that the Gillard government has the power to take direct action to get Qantas planes back in the air. The government, however, wants the dispute resolved through industrial umpire Fair Work Australia.

October 30, 11.37am: Independent Senator Nick Xenophon weighs in on the industrial dispute, saying that a special inquiry may be needed.

October 30, 11.46am: afr.com wraps up Qantas chief Joyce's six Sunday morning radio and television appearances, including broadcasts with ABC Radio, ABC TV, Ten Network, Seven Network, Nine Network and Sky News. Joyce says Qantas can have its aircraft back in the air in six hours if it secures the industrial relations concessions it wants.

October 30, AM: While the federal Labor and Liberal parties engage in a war of words, Qantas chief Joyce hits morning television shows hard, defending the carrier's actions as he attempts to limit the brand damage of stranding thousands of travellers worldwide. The AFR covers these events in its Qantas lead.

October 30, 12.12pm: Reports of how the grounding is affecting business begin to flow in, with hotel operators among those concerned about the fleet grounding.

October 30, 1.11pm: FlightCentre joins those expressing concerns over the impact of Qantas' actions, accusing the federal government of not acting fast enough to resolve the dispute.