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- Qantas Airways (QAN) has announced it will stand down 2500 staff for approximately two months
- The airline will pay impacted employees for the next fortnight, then they will have to rely on government support payments
- Qantas is working at less than 40 per cent of domestic flight capacity, largely because of Sydney’s lockdown and closed borders to New South Wales
- QAN is trading 1.97 per cent lower at $4.47 at 11:28 am AEST
Qantas Airways (QAN) has announced that 2500 employees will be stood down for about two months, as COVID-19 restrictions in Australia keep a lid on domestic flights.
The decision will directly impact Qantas and Jetstar domestic pilots, cabin crew and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales, the airline said, adding that no job losses were expected from the move.
The staff will be paid in full for their two weeks’ notice, which starts today. Following that period, they will be reliant on government support.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the stand-downs were predicted to last for two months. However, he said no further staff cuts were forecast after the huge number of redundancies last year.
“Qantas and Jetstar have gone from operating almost 100 per cent of their usual domestic flying in May to less than 40 per cent in July because of lockdowns in three states,” Mr Joyce said in a statement.
“Hopefully, once other states open back up to South Australia and Victoria in the next week or so, and the current outbreak in Brisbane is brought under control, our domestic flying will come back to around 50 to 60 per cent of normal levels.
“Based on current case numbers, it’s reasonable to assume that Sydney’s borders will be closed for at least another two months.”
Yesterday the Federal Government announced that airlines could claim $750 a week for up to half of their air crew workforce on the condition that none were retrenched.
QAN was trading 1.97 per cent lower at $4.47 at 11:28 am AEST
