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Qantas To Cut 6,000 Jobs And Will Ground 100 Aircraft For One Year

Qantas To Cut 6,000 Jobs And Will Ground 100 Aircraft For One Year

The cuts predominantly affect ground staff and cabin crew.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Qantas has announced it will be cutting more than 6,000 jobs as it tries to navigate through post-pandemic Australia.

Thousands of staff have been stood down for months and international flights have effectively been cancelled until October after Australia's borders were locked down.

There has been a lot of speculation about what will happen to the airline, even though domestic routes have ramped up flights in recent weeks.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said: "This is something that weighs heavily on all of us. But the collapse of billions of dollars in revenue leaves us little choice if we are to save as many jobs as possible, long term.

"Many of the 6,000 job losses we're announcing today are people who have spent decades here. It's not unusual to have several members of one family working at Qantas and Jetstar.

"What makes this even harder is that right before this crisis hit, we were actively recruiting. We were gearing up for Project Sunrise.

PA

"We were getting ready to buy planes. Now, we're facing a sudden reversal of fortune that is no one's fault - but is very hard to accept. Across the world, airlines are shrinking by up to 50%.

"To avoid anything on this scale, we will be extending the stand down for a large number of our people as we wait for the recovery we know is coming.

"Separate to job losses, about 15,000 people will remain stood down for some time - people for whom we have no work now, but will in future. Around half of those stood down will be back flying domestically, we think, by the end of the year. The remainder - mostly those supporting international flying - will return more slowly."

There will be 1,450 losses in the corporate sector due to less flying activity, 1,500 in ground operations, 1,050 cabin crew, 630 engineering jobs, and at least 220 pilots will get the chop.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: News, Australia

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