COVID-19

Qantas to ground international flights, stand down two-thirds of staff

March 19, 2020 6:34 am

Qantas will suspend international flights and temporarily stand down two-thirds of its workforce from the end of March.[Source: The Sydney Morning Herald]

Qantas will ground its entire international fleet, including overseas Jetstar flights, from late March following the government’s most recent advice for Australians to avoid travel.

Two-thirds of the carrier’s staff will be temporarily stood down in a hope to save jobs in the long term as the airline sector reels from the impact of the coronavirus.

It will also delay the payment of its dividend from April 9 until September 1 and senior executives and the board will take a 100 per cent pay cut until at least the end of the financial year, up from 30 per cent earlier, joining the chairman and CEO in taking no pay.

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“We’re in a strong financial position right now, but our wages bill is more than $4 billion a year,” Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said in a statement.

“With the huge drop in revenue we’re facing, we have to make difficult decisions to guarantee the future of the national carrier.”