New platform: Alan Joyce insists the Qantas/Emirates deal will not mean job cuts. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
QANTAS chief executive Alan Joyce has assured its workforce that jobs will not be cut as a result of its proposed close alliance with Middle Eastern airline Emirates.
With some unions fearing job cuts will be made once the deal is approved, Mr Joyce sought to allay the concerns and insisted that the alliance will be a means of growing Qantas' international operations.
''There's no job cuts as a result of this … but there will be jobs growth as we use this as our platform going forward,'' Mr Joyce said.
Without approval for the deal, Mr Joyce warned that Qantas will no longer have a viable international operation, which would ultimately lead to job losses in the airline, and hurt other parts of the company such as its frequent flyer business.
''There is no going back and there is no alternative for us to make Europe work,'' he told the National Press Club in Canberra.
''What Emirates will do is secure the operations into Europe to make them viable and allow us, as we said, to create a platform for us to grow.''
Qantas has already ended partnerships with British Airways, Air France and Cathay Pacific, and will also be giving up landing slots in Singapore, which has lost out to Dubai as the airline's main international hub.
But the Transport Workers Union, which represents Qantas ground staff, said Mr Joyce's comments yesterday about the importance of the Qantas workforce rang hollow. The union accused the company of running an ''aggressive policy of outsourcing and offshoring Qantas group jobs''.
Yesterday, Mr Joyce also said that Canberra Airport remained on Qantas' radar for international flights.
''We have looked at the Canberra market internationally on a number of occasions. That is still potentially on our radar screen … but it all depends on us making the necessary changes,'' he said.
The competition watchdog is expected to make a draft decision on the Qantas-Emirates alliance by the end of this year. The federal Transport Department gave its support for the deal in a submission lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission early this week.
Aspects of the deal will also need regulatory approval in Singapore and New Zealand
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Joyce assures workers on jobs