Qantas offers redundancy to all 7000 of its cabin crew

[Greg McDonald]

From NEWS.COM.AU:

QANTAS has offered voluntary redundancies to all 7000 of its cabin crew members in its latest cost-cutting move.

"Qantas issued a voluntary redundancy registration of interest pack to all cabin crew members today," a Qantas spokesperson said.

The move comes in response to high oil and fuel prices and global natural disasters, with Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce saying Qantas is facing its most serious challenge since the peak of the global financial crisis.

"We need to act decisively to respond to rising fuel costs and natural disasters, just like we did during the global financial crisis, to ensure the ongoing sustainability of our business," he told ABC online.

Qantas wants to reduce its planned capacity growth on domestic flights from 14 to eight per cent, and on international routes from ten to seven per cent.

The redundancy announcement came on the same day the airline announced its international unit carried 509,000 passengers in April 2011, up 7.4 per cent from April 2010.

Qantas last month announced it will lift the price of its European flights after the EU, under its emissions trading scheme, said it would force the airline to pay a tax on 15 per cent of its carbon emissions from its nearest port of departure.

Meanwhile, a recent US study placed Qantas fourth in the world for revenue raised by ancillary charges for items such as baggage.

Qantas earned about $1.5 billion in 2010 as a result of the charges, consultancy firm IdeaWorks found, placing it fourth below US airlines Delta, American and United.

The move towards voluntary redundancy for cabin crew is the latest in a series of industrial issues for the airline.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) is currently considering industrial action over wages and conditions following a canvas of its 1700 members.

If the pilot's strike goes ahead, it will be the first of its kind in 45 years.

The airline's management have also recently been in negotiations with union groups over wage and working conditions.

In mid May, 1600 engineers scrapped plans for nationwide strikes.

Members of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) planned strikes at airports around the country as part of the ongoing row over pay and conditions.