Qantas to Cut 2,800

Few people can argue that the airline industry is in a good place right now. After all less people are flying and the cost of fuel is going up. Some airlines however are weathering the storm of layoffs better than others. For some companies the layoffs are simply a fiscal issue. For others it is a PR nightmare. Take for example the case of Qantas, whose first round of major layoffs in the bad economy led to a serious amount of public rancor, after the executives compensation packages for the same period was made public.
Sadly, the airline did not stop the layoffs there, and they are getting ready to do it all again. The company is, in a bid to reduce costs, making a deal with a major global airline. This deal, which is set to help reduce the operating expenses by several hundred million dollars a year, will also result in a cut of a significant number of jobs.

In a move that is sure to be unpopular with the people the company is getting ready to drop 2,800 full time workers from its payrolls. This cut is much larger than any of previous layoff actions that the company has taken in the last couple of years. As you may recall, if you are a regular reader of our site, tat Quantas just laid off 500 workers back in May of this year. For those of you who did not catch it the first time around here is a look at our earlier coverage, “This time Qantas is getting ready to cut back on 500 jobs in order to save an estimated $100 million each year as the company merges some of its maintenance facilities in order to save on costs. The company is attributing the need to save money to both a decrease in consumer demand for flights and an increase in the costs of fuel. The majority of the job cuts are set to come from the maintenance facility at Tullamarine. The company will then focus all of its maintenance efforts on facilities in Avalon and Brisbane. ”

Before that the company was looking at laying off about 1,100 workers in total. For those of you who missed out on those cuts the first time around here is an excerpt that will get you up to speed in no time at all, “This time the company is set to get rid of 400 of its workers at one facility and then another 660 from another facility. The 400 workers at the first facility who are soon to be out of a job are coming from the company’s heavy maintenance base just outside the city of Melbourne. The second set of layoffs, the 660, has yet to be confirmed official by the company. The information is coming from a source close to the company and the final number on this layoff may change before all is said and done.”

With these kinds of cuts back to back one has to wonder who will be left at the airline when all is said and done.