Alan Joyce has again lashed out at the Australian union movement, claiming it has been spreading rampant lies to fight efforts for more foreign investment.

The chief executive of Qantas, a mostly Australian-owned airline, says unions have been campaigning against controversial changes to the company’s ownership rules by claiming foreign control would weaken maintenance programs and undermine safety.

“That is blatant fear-mongering,” Mr Joyce told a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday.

“It is playing the safety card as a tool of industrial relations. This committee needs no reminder of the absolute Qantas commitment to safety and our exemplary track record of delivering it.”

It appears many have been distracted by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, with Labor and the unions saying Australians should pay attention to Qantas’ push to move maintenance offshore.

The work carried out at Australian sites is among the considerable costs faced by the company if it remains majority Australian-owned. Mr Joyce says the Qantas Sale Act mandating the foreign-local split threatens its “future prospects” of competition against Virgin Australia and other flyers.

The chief executive said repair work on Qantas’ fleets of Airbus A380s and Boeing 747s is already done overseas, and in quite safe conditions.

“As always in aviation, there are multiple fail-safes to account for the very small likelihood of error,” he said.

“Suggesting that any mistake is a potential catastrophe is alarmist and deeply irresponsible.”

Debate continues to rage in federal parliamentary circles over the future of the company many consider a national icon. The Coalition’s bill to allow more than 49 per cent foreign ownership of the airline is currently being blocked by the Senate, though some say this may change with the new Senate arrangement in July.