Qantas announces 500 job losses in Victoria

Australian carrier Qantas is to cut 500 engineering jobs near Melbourne.

Travel Insurance News - 21/05/2012

<< Axe, knives and sword seized at Belfast airport | Travel News | Air India invites sacked pilots back >>

Australian carrier Qantas is to cut 500 engineering jobs near Melbourne.

The flag carrier said on Monday that the cuts would affect 422 workers based at its Tullamarine International Airport maintenance facility and another 113 at its Avalon Domestic Airport maintenance centre set around 30 miles west of central Melbourne.

The move comes as Qantas continues to implement cost-cutting efforts in the wake of prolonged falling profits. The airline said by relocating its engineering centres if hopes to take a significant step in cutting costs by AUD $500 million dollars (£311 million) over the next two years.

In February, Qantas posted an 83 per cent mid-year drop in profits following a bitter standoff between labour unions and carrier management last year.

Meanwhile, Tony Sheldon said on behalf of the Transport Workers' Union that the move would severely affect both Qantas employees and the travelling public. He said that it was another example of the carrier’s “militant” management “further tarnishing” the airline’s iconic status by moving engineering jobs overseas.

Bill Shorten, the Australian employment and workplace relations minister, called the job losses “regrettable” and said that the news was “saddening”.

Qantas said in a statement that following the cuts it will still employ more than 30,000 individuals in Australia, including some 5,000 engineering specialists.

<< Axe, knives and sword seized at Belfast airport | Travel News | Air India invites sacked pilots back >>