An Airbus reset that delayed a Singapore Airlines flight by 17 minutes has cost an aviation maintenance company more than $41,000 after the Fair Work Commission found a veteran engineer was unfairly dismissed.

An aircraft maintenance manager will be paid $40,000 but has failed to win back his job after Singapore Airlines said an investigation into his conduct was biased.

The aircraft maintenance worker failed to win his job back, despite the compensation, in part because he had been working shifts with a competing company.