Qantas Cuts 400 Jobs

Qantas has announced that it is cutting more than 400 jobs from its engineering department. The layoff is due to company’s shutdown of it maintenance base at the Tullamarine Airport. 

A spokeswoman from Qantas said the company reviewed its heavy maintenance bases and decided on closing down the Tullamarine base. The other bases of Qantas are located in Victoria and another in northeastern Queensland. 

The three bases employs about 1,400 employees. 

Industry sources said that the Victorian government negotiated to try saving the jobs. The company, however, decided on the layoffs because there is no longer much maintenance required for its aircrafts.

The second facility is Victoria is located at Avalon, where Qantas employs about 660 heavy maintenance workers. The Avalon base will remain open for now. 

Some sources, however, expect that more heavy maintenance workers would be laid off in the next five to seven years. Industry observers predict that Qantas would consolidate everything into one single base. 

This is also not the first time the airline company has cut off jobs. The company has also been affected by these job cuts as a result of industrial disputes. Last year alone, more than 70,000 passengers were left stranded after a labor dispute. 

Steve Purvinas, secretary of Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, said union members are bracing themselves for the job cuts. He added that he expects 600 jobs more will be cut from the Avalon base. 

Qantas employs about 9,700 employees. Two-thirds of these are working in the aircraft maintenance sector.