Qantas has posted a 91 per cent loss for the 2020 financial year and has put international flights on hold until July 2021.

A total of 6,000 staff lost their jobs with another 20,000 stood down during the crisis. The airline hopes Trans Tasman travel will resume sooner than international forecast.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the company started the year with a strong balance sheet but the second half of 2020 had been the toughest few months in the airline’s 99-year history. He said: “The impact of COVID on all airlines is clear. It’s devastating and it will be a question of survival for many. We don’t understand why states with zero cases still have borders closed to other states with zero cases… If it’s safe, we need to reopen them.”

In addition to international border closures, in place since March 20, several Australian states have closed their domestic borders. Qantas’ leaders international flights were unlikely to restart until at least July 2021, and domestic travel would be at 20 per cent of its usual levels.

Promising start to the financial year

The airline’s year-on-year figures had shown a promising start to the financial year prior to the spread of pandemic from Wuhan in China where it was identified in December 2019. Qantas has estimated the cost of the economic blow – from the crisis and border restrictions – to be in excess of $4billion.

But the airline said it had taken swift action to reposition itself for recovery. A statement by Qantas read: “Fast action to radically cut costs and place much of the flying business into a form of hibernation helped minimise the financial impact from this extraordinary sequence of events.”

Total costs were reduced by 75 per cent, helped by the Australian government’s stimulus and support packages.

Joyce added: “We’ve had to make some very tough decisions in the past few months to guarantee our future. At least 6,000 of our people will leave the business through no fault of their own, and thousands more will be stood down for a long time.”

Recovery will be “choppy”

He predicted a ‘choppy’, recovery and said the airline had already faced setbacks with borders opening and then closing again. He added: “We know that travel is at the top of people’s wish lists and that demand will return as soon as restrictions lift. That means we can get more of our people back to work.”

But he added the lack of clear direction on when borders would reopen was fast becoming a problem for businesses and the economy.

Qantas has posted a 91 per cent loss for the 2020 financial year and has put international flights on hold until July 2021.

A total of 6,000 staff lost their jobs with another 20,000 stood down during the crisis. The airline hopes Trans Tasman travel will resume sooner than international forecast.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said the company started the year with a strong balance sheet but the second half of 2020 had been the toughest few months in the airline’s 99-year history. He said: “The impact of COVID on all airlines is clear. It’s devastating and it will be a question of survival for many. We don’t understand why states with zero cases still have borders closed to other states with zero cases… If it’s safe, we need to reopen them.”

In addition to international border closures, in place since March 20, several Australian states have closed their domestic borders. Qantas’ leaders international flights were unlikely to restart until at least July 2021, and domestic travel would be at 20 per cent of its usual levels.

Promising start to the financial year
The airline’s year-on-year figures had shown a promising start to the financial year prior to the spread of pandemic from Wuhan in China where it was identified in December 2019. Qantas has estimated the cost of the economic blow – from the crisis and border restrictions – to be in excess of $4billion.

But the airline said it had taken swift action to reposition itself for recovery. A statement by Qantas read: “Fast action to radically cut costs and place much of the flying business into a form of hibernation helped minimise the financial impact from this extraordinary sequence of events.”

Total costs were reduced by 75 per cent, helped by the Australian government’s stimulus and support packages.

Joyce added: “We’ve had to make some very tough decisions in the past few months to guarantee our future. At least 6,000 of our people will leave the business through no fault of their own, and thousands more will be stood down for a long time.”

Recovery will be “choppy”

He predicted a ‘choppy’, recovery and said the airline had already faced setbacks with borders opening and then closing again. He added: “We know that travel is at the top of people’s wish lists and that demand will return as soon as restrictions lift. That means we can get more of our people back to work.”

But he added the lack of clear direction on when borders would reopen was fast becoming a problem for businesses and the economy.
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