Qantas is set to slash SIX THOUSAND jobs after flights were grounded by coronavirus - one fifth of the airline's entire workforce
- Qantas to announce it will slash 6,000 jobs - 20 per cent of airline's workforce
- Airline also said 15,000 staff members stood down will remain so 'for some time'
- Qantas is also attempting to raise $1.9billion in bid to shore up its financial status
- Cuts come just days after Qantas cleared international schedule until October
- Only overseas flights scheduled are those between Australia and New Zealand
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Qantas has announced it will slash 6,000 jobs - 20 per cent of the airline's workforce - as the government's lockdown of international borders continues to cripple the aviation industry.
The airline also said the 15,000 staff members already stood down will remain out of work 'for some time'.
The staff cuts come just days after Qantas cancelled all of its international flights other than those between Australia and New Zealand until September because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Qantas 737-800 aircraft parked on the east-west runway at Sydney Airport on May 20. The airline is set to announce it will cut 6,000 jobs from its 30,000 workforce
Qantas employees working as ground and cabin crews and in the airline's Sydney head office will likely form the bulk of the job cuts, The Australian reported.
In a speech to the Australian Stock Exchange, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the impact of coronavirus meant the company would have to become a 'smaller airline' in the short term.
'It’s clear international travel is likely to be stalled for a long time,' he said.
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'IATA –the peak body for airlines – says it will take more than three years for global travel to return to 2019 levels.
'We have to position ourselves for several years where revenues will be much lower. And that means becoming a smaller airline in the short term.'
Mr Joyce said he expected to bring back about half of the 15,000 staff stood down to the workforce by the end of the year as domestic travel within Australia slowly returns to normal.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the company would have to become a 'smaller airline' in the short term as the COVID-19 pandemic stymies international travel
The airline is meanwhile attempting to raise $1.9billion to shore up its financial status - having already raised $1.55billion through bank loans taken out against its Boeing 787-9 fleet.
Trading in the airline's shares have also been halted ahead of the announcement of its plan to raise capital.
Last Wednesday, the airline cancelled all of its international flights until October apart from those to New Zealand in anticipation of the opening of a trans-Tasman bubble.
The cancellations came on the same day Trade Minister Simon Birmingham announced the country's borders will remain closed for another four months.
More to come
