Qantas may have to stand down airline staff due to lockdowns happening across Australia

Flight cancellation data released on Wednesday showed more than 9000 flights were cancelled in July, majority of them were flights with Qantas and Jetstar.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce sent an email to staff detailing the effects of the current lockdown hitting Sydney and Melboure.

Joyce said their total flying had dropped below 40 per cent of pre-Covid capacity and an extension to the lockdowns could be problematic for the group.

In the email written to staff he said the company isn’t at the point of requiring stand-downs in domestic operations at this stage.

“Hopefully this scenario doesn’t come to pass. But we’ve always been upfront through this crisis and it’s important for you to know the challenges we’re facing,” said Mr Joyce.

Australia’s largest cities in lockdown so thousands of flights grounded

“NSW is a key part of the Qantas and Jetstar network, so that lockdown has already seen our total domestic flying fall from 90 per cent of pre-COVID levels to around 60 per cent,” he wrote.

“When you add in the Victorian and now South Australian lockdowns, our total flying drops below 40 per cent.”

Qantas wants the government to chip in

He said if that happened he expected the government would provide a basic level of income support.. yet another call out for the JobKeeper payment to return.

Mr Joyce reassured workers that this situation will only be temporary, because “unlike last winter there’s now a Covid vaccine rolling out”.

The message came as rival Rex announced the temporary suspension of its Boeing 737 operations.

At the height of the Covid crisis last year, Qantas had more than 20,000 employees stood down.

About 7500 people who usually work in the airline’s international business remain stood down.