QANTAS boss Alan Joyce has issued an unprecedented call to action from 35,000 staff to mount a nationwide political campaign against what he claimed was the foreign takeover of Australian skies.
In a first for an Australian corporate, the Qantas boss has urged the united workforce of the airline to lobby Federal MPs against further foreign investment in its competitor Virgin which he claimed was trying to kill off the flying kangaroo.
The Daily Telegraph has obtained a memo from Mr Joyce, sent to all staff last night, calling for urgent action by Qantas employees to pressure Government to intervene or risk an eventual foreign monopoly on domestic routes.
"After all the hard work we have put in over the past five years - and all the work by the thousands of Qantas people over 93 years of history - I am not sitting by while the future of Australia's Qantas is snatched away," Mr Joyce wrote.
"No other country on earth would passively allow such a foreign takeover to happen.
"If you feel as strongly as I do, I encourage you to make your voice heard as well. Write a letter to your local Federal representative. Make a phone call. Speak up on social media.
"Each one of you has stood up for Qantas and fair, vigorous competition. It's essential - and now urgent - that Australia's political leaders do so as well."
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce / Picture: Rob Griffith
Source: Supplied
Mr Joyce has already written to Prime Minister Tony Abbott to intervene and block Virgin's $300 million foreign capital plans.Mr Joyce has received the backing of key unions in calling for a review of aviation policy following the plan by Virgin's majority owners - Air New Zealand, middle east-based Etihad and Singapore Airlines - to inject a further $300 million into the Australian airline.
They argued that the equity raising lifted Virgin's ownership by foreign Governments to 72 per cent, allowing the airline to continue running at a loss and under-cut Qantas on prices, a strategy which would ultimately cripple Qantas.
"The Australian and International Pilots Association is calling for a review of Australia's aviation policy settings, arguing the playing field has become skewed due to the rising influence of foreign government-controlled investment in the market," the AIPA said in a statement.
"AIPA is deeply concerned that Virgin Australia, by splitting its business, has been able to access a significant advantage by circumventing the intent of the Air Navigation Act, which requires that Australian airlines, other than Qantas, are limited to 49 per cent foreign ownership by international airlines."
ACTU secretary Dave Oliver also backed Mr Joyce and called on the Abbott government to ensure the viability of the national carrier.
"As I said, this airline has been a key part of society today, and employs tens of thousands of Australians, and that this Government cannot sit on the sideline and just simply leave it to the market."
Virgin, however, has hit back claiming its presence in the market had broken the monopoly situation of the past and that its new capital raising would further enhance competition in the market.
In a statement issued yesterday in response to Qantas's move, Virgin said its presence in Australia had been good the economy and that its board operated with majority independent control.
"The landscape of Australian aviation has changed forever. It's no longer a monopoly," it said.
Qantas still dominates the market carrying 48.3 million passengers a year compared to Virgin's 19.3 million.
But Mr Joyce insisted Qantas now faced an "unprecedented situation".
"For months Virgin has been losing money, driven by a strategy of setting uncompetitively low prices to win customers off Qantas across all our flying businesses," he said.
"With the benefit of unlimited sovereign funds - including the recent injection of a further $300 million - Virgin can set prices below a competitive level simply because, unlike us, they don't need to make a profit.
"The agenda of these foreign airlines is to terminally weaken Qantas and Jetstar in our domestic markets, force us to shrink our international business, and sacrifice jobs. If nothing is done, they will be perfectly placed to take a domestic monopoly position in the Australian market over the longer term.
"No nation on earth depends more on aviation than the island-continent of Australia. It is a strategic issue for this country.
As the national carrier our red tail is a symbol of Australia around the world, and a beacon for Australians in need."