Qantas has announced it will be further cutting domestic flights to help combat rising fuel prices while Jetstar chief executive Gareth Evans is departing his role at the end of the year.
Qantas revealed the news in a trading update, saying it will cut an additional 5 per cent of domestic flights for July, August and September. This comes on top of a 10 per cent reduction announced in May.
The carrier also announced up to 19,000 employees across the Group will be offered a $5000 payment as the carrier continues to recover financially from the pandemic. Qantas revealed a $1.5 billion drop in net debt over the past six months.
The one-off payment comes as part of efforts to hang onto staff amid mounting passenger frustrations about the airline.
The boost, which will cost the group $87 million, will be only for Qantas workers covered by enterprise bargaining agreements. Management and senior executives are not eligible for the payment.
Workers will only receive the payment after a new enterprise agreement is locked in, and eligibility conditions will apply. 4000 Qantas workers covered by nine already-finalised agreements are due to receive the payment soon.
Qantas chief Alan Joyce said the one-off payment was indicative of the airline sharing the benefits of the travel rebound, which began in December, and to “recognise the great work [staff] are doing”.
“Today, we’re announcing a one-off payment that goes some of the way to acknowledging the sacrifices our people have made, including long periods of no work and no annual wage increases,” he said.
Qantas is currently negotiating to increase wages by two per cent, following a two-year wage freeze for all staff during the pandemic. Joyce said the airline “can’t afford” to increase salaries beyond the two per cent threshold but could afford the one-off payment.
The departure of Evans comes after two decades at the company, during which Evans has also served as Qantas chief financial officer and CEO of Qantas International. He started as Jetstar CEO in 2017.
“Gareth has decided this is the right moment to move on,” Qantas said in a statement.
“He’s given an incredible amount to the organisation in several key roles, from his time as CFO through major restructuring and most recently as Jetstar CEO as we navigated COVID. When he leaves next year it will be with our sincere thanks and best wishes.”