QANTAS ANNOUNCES JOB AND CAPACITY CUTS
SYDNEY, 18 July 2008: The Qantas Group said today it would cut 1,500 jobs worldwide
in response to the sustained high oil prices and changing economic conditions.
The Chief Executive Officer of Qantas Airways Limited, Mr Geoff Dixon, said that in
addition to the job cuts, Qantas would not implement its budgeted growth in flying in the
2008/09 financial year and would cancel plans to hire a further 1,200 people for that
growth.
Mr Dixon said every effort would be made to achieve the job cuts through voluntary
redundancy, early retirements, leave without pay, an accelerated leave program and
converting positions from full-time to part-time.
“However, some compulsory redundancies will be necessary, which we regret.
“The jobs to be cut will be principally concentrated in non-operational areas, although
operational positions will also go.”
“Over 20 per cent of our management and head office support jobs will be cut,” he said.
“The redundancy program will be completed by December.”
Mr Dixon said the aviation industry was facing a major crisis throughout the world and
Qantas needed to act decisively to ensure its future.
“Acting now, on top of the measures already taken, will protect our competitive position,
protect the great majority of over 36,000 jobs and enable us to grow profitably when
conditions improve.
Mr Dixon said as a result of today’s decision, the Qantas group would:
- maintain a recruitment and executive pay freeze for the foreseeable future;
- reduce forecast capacity growth in 2008/09 from eight per cent to nil growth;
-retire up to 22 older aircraft from its fleet of 228 (including announcements previously
made);
- close its long-running call centres in Tucson, Arizona and London at a cost of 99 jobs,
and concentrate all its call centre activity in Australia and New Zealand;
- suspend Jetstar’s recruitment program until the end of the year, including its recruitment
of pilots under the 457 visa program; and
- close Jetstar’s cabin crew and pilot base in Adelaide by the end of August, with Jetstar’s
37 return weekly Adelaide flights to remain and be serviced by aircraft and staff based
in Darwin and Sydney.
Mr Dixon said Qantas would also:
- proceed with its major fleet re-equipment program of new and more fuel efficient aircraft
such as the A380 and B787; and
- proceed with its customer-focused product and service initiatives such as domestic
Business class lounges, terminal facilities and opening the new Qantas Customer
Service Centre of Excellence.
He said Qantas was very conscious of the important role it played in business and tourism
throughout metropolitan and regional Australia.
“This was uppermost in our mind when reviewing all aspects of our operations in recent
weeks and, as a result, the latest schedule changes mostly involve a reduction of capacity
on some routes and not the wholesale elimination of routes.
“Also we need to keep developing new opportunities and we will, for example, proceed
with opening up already announced new direct services between Sydney and Buenos
Aires in November.”
Mr Dixon said Qantas had successfully responded, with the valuable support of its people
and its customers, to many crises since privatisation in 1995.
“We are confident of doing the same again, particularly now that we have reached an in
principle agreement with the union representing our engineers, the ALAEA. This should
mean a quick cessation to the difficulties our customers have experienced over the past
ten weeks.”
Mr Dixon said the agreement, and the one reached on Wednesday with AIPA, the union
representing 1,800 pilots, provided greater flexibility for Qantas and its pilots and its
might have to post another thread, who going to put there hand up,
not me this time,