Quantas has announced that around 2,500 frontline Qantas and Jetstar employees will be stood down for an estimated two months due to COVID outbreaks.
Airline said this is a temporary measure and no job losses are expected.
Quantas’ decision will directly impact domestic pilots, cabin crew and airport workers, mostly in New South Wales.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the difficult decision to trigger stand downs reflected the reality confronting many businesses operating in New South Wales.
“This is clearly the last thing we want to do, but we’re now faced with an extended period of reduced flying and that means no work for a number of our people.
Joyce said Qantas and Jetstar have gone from operating almost 100 per cent of their usual domestic flying in May to less than 40 per cent in July because of lockdowns in three states.
”This is extremely challenging for the 2,500 of our people directly impacted, but it’s also very different from this time last year when we had more than 20,000 employees stood down and most of our aircraft in hibernation for months on end.”
