Paul Alfred
15th Nov 2001, 03:36
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,3254596%255E2,00.html
2000 Qantas jobs lost From news.com.au staff 15nov01
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,3254596%255E2,00.html
QANTAS is to axe between 1500 and 2000 staff by the
end of the year. Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff
Dixon said the reductions in staff would take place before
the end of December. The "sharp and continuing
deterioration in the international aviation market" is being
blamed. Mr Dixon said the cuts would be achieved by
redundancies, attrition and by not filling budgeted vacancies.
Every effort would be made to keep compulsory
redundancies to a minimum, a statement from the airline
said. Mr Dixon said the downsizing by Qantas was
considerably less than for other international airlines. The
industry had shed over 250,000 jobs in the past eight
weeks. Mr Dixon said a range of other initiatives would also
be introduced immediately to meet the market downturn.
These include: * Taking of annual and long service leave; *
Job sharing by interested staff; and * Leave without pay.
Mr Dixon said Qantas would also make further reductions
to its international flying, taking the reduction in capacity
since the terrorist attacks on America to around 11 per
cent. All flights to New York will be withdrawn from
November 25. There will be a reduction in flights to Rome,
Johannesburg, Bangkok, Manila and Buenos Aires; and
Paris services will, from March, be routed over Frankfurt.
In addition to the reduction in services, Qantas had decided
to retire its fleet of five 747-200 aircraft from April next
year, the airline said. The aircraft were planned to be
phased out from late 2003. Qantas will also make extensive
internal changes, moving a significant number of people from
its international operation to its domestic operation. Mr
Dixon said these moves by Qantas were designed to bolster
decisions made last month to respond to the international
aviation downturn resulting from the terrorist attack, to
lower its cost base and to put it in a strong position to take
advantage of the inevitable recovery of the international
aviation market. Those decisions included: * Seeking a
wages pause for 12 to 18 months from all staff; * The
purchase of new, more cost efficient 737-800 aircraft for
domestic flying; and * Substantial changes to the domestic
product offering. Mr Dixon said Qantas, while currently
benefiting from a larger market share domestically following
the collapse of Ansett, was still principally an international
airline. Last year, 78 per cent of the airline's profits were
generated by the international operations. "The events of
September 11 have affected services far beyond the United
States," he said. "There has also been a significant downturn
for travel to and from Europe, South East Asia and Japan.
"Bookings from Japan are down 25 per cent and from the
United Kingdom 23 per cent. Some other markets are
similarly affected and overall traffic levels have declined
market by market between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.
"While we need to continue to monitor the international
situation closely, every effort will be made to resume
withdrawn services as quickly as possible to help arrest the
downturn in inbound tourism." Mr Dixon said Qantas had
worked extremely hard to become competitive during the
six years since privatisation. "We have done this principally
through sound economic and operational decisions, wise
investment and tremendous staff enthusiasm."
2000 Qantas jobs lost From news.com.au staff 15nov01
http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,3254596%255E2,00.html
QANTAS is to axe between 1500 and 2000 staff by the
end of the year. Qantas Chief Executive Officer Geoff
Dixon said the reductions in staff would take place before
the end of December. The "sharp and continuing
deterioration in the international aviation market" is being
blamed. Mr Dixon said the cuts would be achieved by
redundancies, attrition and by not filling budgeted vacancies.
Every effort would be made to keep compulsory
redundancies to a minimum, a statement from the airline
said. Mr Dixon said the downsizing by Qantas was
considerably less than for other international airlines. The
industry had shed over 250,000 jobs in the past eight
weeks. Mr Dixon said a range of other initiatives would also
be introduced immediately to meet the market downturn.
These include: * Taking of annual and long service leave; *
Job sharing by interested staff; and * Leave without pay.
Mr Dixon said Qantas would also make further reductions
to its international flying, taking the reduction in capacity
since the terrorist attacks on America to around 11 per
cent. All flights to New York will be withdrawn from
November 25. There will be a reduction in flights to Rome,
Johannesburg, Bangkok, Manila and Buenos Aires; and
Paris services will, from March, be routed over Frankfurt.
In addition to the reduction in services, Qantas had decided
to retire its fleet of five 747-200 aircraft from April next
year, the airline said. The aircraft were planned to be
phased out from late 2003. Qantas will also make extensive
internal changes, moving a significant number of people from
its international operation to its domestic operation. Mr
Dixon said these moves by Qantas were designed to bolster
decisions made last month to respond to the international
aviation downturn resulting from the terrorist attack, to
lower its cost base and to put it in a strong position to take
advantage of the inevitable recovery of the international
aviation market. Those decisions included: * Seeking a
wages pause for 12 to 18 months from all staff; * The
purchase of new, more cost efficient 737-800 aircraft for
domestic flying; and * Substantial changes to the domestic
product offering. Mr Dixon said Qantas, while currently
benefiting from a larger market share domestically following
the collapse of Ansett, was still principally an international
airline. Last year, 78 per cent of the airline's profits were
generated by the international operations. "The events of
September 11 have affected services far beyond the United
States," he said. "There has also been a significant downturn
for travel to and from Europe, South East Asia and Japan.
"Bookings from Japan are down 25 per cent and from the
United Kingdom 23 per cent. Some other markets are
similarly affected and overall traffic levels have declined
market by market between 10 per cent and 20 per cent.
"While we need to continue to monitor the international
situation closely, every effort will be made to resume
withdrawn services as quickly as possible to help arrest the
downturn in inbound tourism." Mr Dixon said Qantas had
worked extremely hard to become competitive during the
six years since privatisation. "We have done this principally
through sound economic and operational decisions, wise
investment and tremendous staff enthusiasm."