Australian airline Qantas to pay for Covid-19 layoffs

Australia's largest airline, Qantas, will "have to pay a record AU$90 million [€50 million] fine for unlawfully dismissing more than 1,800 employees" during the pandemic, reports The Age . According to the Australian daily, the federal judge "sanctioned the airline for its behavior and criticized its current and former leaders," in his judgment released on Monday, August 18.

The Transport Workers' Union is thus "encouraged to bring further proceedings" and will receive more than half of the sum, 50 million Australian dollars (28 million euros), "while the remainder of the fine should be paid" later to the dismissed staff.

The fine, made public Monday, following a December ruling, "brings to an end a heated saga" between the airline's main union and the Australian airline. In 2020, "in the face of pandemic-related lockdowns, Qantas announced it would outsource ground handling functions at ten Australian airports," eliminating some 1,820 ground-based jobs.

This affair “will have cost Qantas around 240 million Australian dollars [134 million euros], or around 19% of its net profit in 2024” – the company had already agreed that year to pay compensation to some former employees.

The judge was not convinced by the genuineness of the airline's "regret," arguing that it was "the wrong kind of regret." Qantas' current chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, acknowledged the court's decision and offered "her sincere apologies to each of the 1,820 employees" who were dismissed.

Justice Michael Lee said he intended to send “a message to Qantas and other large employers that not only will they face significant fines for breaching the law, but that those fines will be paid to unions to enable them to fulfill their statutory role in enforcing the law.”