Qantas has announced an annual loss of nearly AUD2,7bn (R33,3bn), in a press release.
Ceo Alan Joyce explained the loss, saying: “About half of this is non-cash. And most of the cash component is the upfront cost for our recovery plan. The two biggest drivers are an AUD1,4bn (R17,3bn) write-down of assets including our A380 fleet, which reflects that these aircraft will be on the ground for years, and more than AUD600m (R7,4bn) in redundancies and other items, as part of restructuring our business.”
He confirmed reductions in Qantas’s workforce, and plans to retrench 6 000 staff (4 000 will be finalised by the end of September). The cuts equate to about a fifth of the airline’s total workforce. In addition, a further 20 000 employees remain temporarily stood down.
The airline said all its A380s were now grounded in long-term storage in the US, and its B747s had been retired six months ahead of schedule.
The release reiterated that Qantas’s international network was unlikely to restart before July 2021.
Qantas is the third-oldest airline in the world.
