Qantas axing hundreds of jobs       

Financial Review
Nov 26, 2019

Qantas Airways is planning to lay off hundreds of workers before Christmas as the Australian airline executes its cost-cutting strategy.

Preparations for hundreds of imminent redundancies come only weeks after an analysis by superannuation investors showed Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce earned a realised pay of almost $24 million for 2017-18, including the vesting of bonus shares awarded for the airline's strong financial performance.   

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce topped the list of highest paid CEOs for 2017-18.   

Some company managers are upset about being required to carry out the job cuts in the wake of the publicity about Mr Joyce's huge pay packet, a Qantas source said.

The person, who is involved in carrying out the looming job cuts, said about 400 positions would be lost across its Australian and global business.

A Qantas spokesman disputed that the number of job losses would be that high and pointed to a corporate restructure focused on head office roles - rather than on-the-ground operational jobs - that was flagged earlier this month.


The number of redundancies has not been publicly disclosed by the airline.

“We recently confirmed that our group executive committee would reduce by one and there would be consolidation of some corporate roles where it made sense to do so, but the figures being quoted are wrong," the Qantas spokesman said.

“To be clear about this, we are still growing in cabin crew, in pilots, in airport staff.

“In a business the size of Qantas, there is often change occurring.”
Total yet to be determined

It is understood Qantas's human resources department is still working through the workforce changes and the exact number of employees who will be affected.

The airline has already announced its group executive for people and culture, Lesley Grant, is retiring at the end of the year after 17 years with the company.

Trade unions sources said they are not expecting the loss of so-called operational roles, such as airline maintenance staff, cabin crew and baggage handlers.

The job-cut preparations come after the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors in September named Mr Joyce as the country's highest-paid chief executive.

ACSI in September showed he topped ASX-100 CEOs with $23.87 million in realised pay in the 2017-18 financial year, due to a combination of performance bonus rights reaching maturity.

Mr Joyce took the top spot after reaping the rewards of a large long-term incentive allocation granted to him in 2014, when the share price was just $1.26.



Mr Joyce previously raised the prospect of job losses in the airline's September quarter results, saying Qantas would focus on cost reductions and improving efficiencies in the business.

Last week the topic resurfaced, with Qantas aiming aggressive cost-cutting initiatives at its domestic operations to lift operating margins.

At the time, the airline's spokesman said this would not result in a significant job losses.
Virgin cutting jobs too.   

The topic of job losses is also gripping Qantas competitor Virgin Australia.

The airline's chief executive Paul Scurrah - who took on the role in February to turn the habitual loss-maker into a profitable company - announced 750 corporate job cuts in August.

Mr Scurrah said the losses would save $75 million a year after he unveiled Virgin Australia's $350 million loss for the 2019 financial year.

Let me see

Qantas are a global carrier

They can probably employ grateful enthusiastic Petit stewardesses from Thailand for $200 a week

Or they can employ entitled unmotivated overweight stewardesses from Australia who are probably members of some reprehensible Union for $1,500 a week

Now looking at it from Qantas,s perspective
It's not really a hard decision is it

If Australians want to make more money they will need to learn to compete on the global stage

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce topped the list of highest paid CEOs for 2017-18.    

whiteknight wrote on Nov 28^th, 2019 at 9:16am:


You look at that and become bitter resentful and jealous
I looked at that and admire someone who has climbed to the top of the hierarchy and it would encourage me to become aspirational and ambitious

Silly old Greggy is going childish again as his obvious senility advances. He still thinks the Pommy Shop Stewards still run the unions.

People have a right to belong to a union.  Now with the Morrison coalition government, people will need unions more than ever.  For instance notice the coalition haven't done anything about restoring the weekend, and public holiday penalty rates back to what they were.  Yet we know that most people support penalty rates.  Those working on those days have lost thousands of dollars, yet the coalition doesn't care less.      

The dumb old BlackDay parrot who wouldn't know what day it is, doesn't realize the unions have hardly any members anymore because they are useless and run by old white men and their only function is to make people lose their jobs.

But that figures because the unions and Labor are supporting the LIMA Agreement which sends Australian jobs overseas.

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Nov 28^th, 2019 at 2:01pm:


there is something empowering about bouncing out of bed and having to stare down mother nature.

a safe job could never satisfy that buzz