A major international airline is set to cut hundreds of jobs and raise prices. Some 850 staff will lose their jobs at Qantas, it has been announced.
“We know this will be difficult news for some of our people and this decision is not a reflection of their contribution or commitment,” said Chief Executive Vanessa Hudson. “We are focused on providing redeployment into other roles across the Group where possible, including new roles we’re creating in Australia, as well as on reskilling, retraining and ongoing support and care.”
In a statement, Qantas said it was making staff redundant from mid-2027 onwards. It has been reported the company was heavily impacted by rising fuel prices caused by the Iran War, which started earlier this year.
In a trading update last week, the company told investors it “will continue to adjust fares and capacity in response to higher fuel costs”, suggesting prices will rise as the Middle East crisis continues and supply chains are disrupted.
Qantas also said it needed to modernise some of the backend systems it uses to run flights, pointing to “more than 1,000 legacy applications that were never designed to work together”.
Ms Hudson added: “We need to reinvent the processes, platforms and data behind our business so we can innovate faster and deliver a better, more connected experience for our customers and our people.
“That means fundamentally redesigning how the work behind our airline gets done, so it is simpler, more connected and keeps getting better, with automation and AI built in from the start.”
Following the announcement, Qantas’ share price rose by 6.34 percent on the Australian Securities Exchange.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
