Unpaid Forced Leave: Qantas releases 2,500 employees

Unpaid compulsory leave
Qantas releases 2,500 employees

Sidney has been in lockdown for five weeks and travel between the Australian states is currently only possible to a limited extent. The national airline Qantas pulls the emergency brake and temporarily releases 2,500 employees.

Due to the sharp decline in domestic flights during the corona pandemic, the Australian airline Qantas wants to take 2,500 employees off. As the company announced, the measure affects pilots, flight attendants and airport employees of Qantas and its subsidiary Jetstar. The leave of absence should begin in mid-August and last around two months.

Qantas 2.80

“That is of course the last thing we want to do, but we are now facing a long period of reduced flight operations, and that means no work for a number of our employees,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. The staff will be paid for another two weeks until the change takes effect. There are no plans to cut jobs.

Most of the affected employees work in the state of New South Wales, where strict travel restrictions have been imposed due to a corona outbreak. Australia’s largest city, Sydney, has been in lockdown for weeks.

The airline said it was in severe turmoil due to the pandemic: Qantas was forced to reduce the number of domestic flights to less than 40 percent in July. During the Corona crisis, the airline had already imposed a strict savings and restructuring program: Last year, Qantas announced the cut of thousands of jobs.

.