Money
Qantas reveals $500 million loss caused by lockdowns
Qantas is forecasting a loss of more than $2 billion this financial year
The Aussie Airline has issued a statement to the ASX stating that recent COVID-19 lockdowns had cost the airline $500 million in earnings.
That included $15 million from Perth’s 3-day snap lockdown, $29 million from the Brisbane lockdown, and even worse, $400 million from the lockdown in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
A sustained rebound in the Australian domestic travel market and the performance of its Freight and Loyalty divisions continues to drive the Qantas Group’s recovery from the impacts of COVID-19.
The national carrier has recently pushed back its plan to restart international travel.
In a statement, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce says:
“Managing costs remains a critical part of our recovery, especially given the revenue we’ve lost and the intensely competitive market we’re in.”
Joyce has called for urgency to speed up the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Australia, stating “Australia has to put the same intensity into the vaccine rollout as we’ve put on lockdowns and restrictions, because only then will we have the confidence to open up.”
“We’ve adjusted our expectations for when international borders will start opening based on the government’s new timeline,
Some Qantas crew are back at work – others are set to go
Qantas boss Alan Joyce said, “It’s great to see so many of our people now back at work and the majority of our fleet back in the air.”
The airline has reduced its workforce drastically since the start of the pandemic, with thousands of employees wither stood down or made redundant.
Qantas confirmed of approximately 22,000 roles across the Group, some 16,000 are currently stood up, including all domestic crew, all corporate employees and some international crew.
It’s understood the airline will ask international cabin crew to volunteer to be made redundant.
Money
Chalmers optimistic about economy despite negative assessments
Chalmers sees hope in Australia’s economy despite grim national accounts, citing rising wages and tax cuts as positive indicators.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers responded to EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy’s negative view of Australia’s economy, which she described as a “sad economy without much hope.”
Chalmers expressed disagreement with this bleak assessment during an interview on ABC Radio.
He acknowledged the pressure many Australians are facing but noted some positive aspects in the recently released national accounts figures.
Chalmers highlighted that wages are rising, inflation is decreasing, and tax cuts are positively impacting the economy.
He mentioned that these factors contributed to a slight improvement in living standards.
Public spending
However, data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicated that without public spending and immigration, Australia would be in recession.
The economy grew by only 0.3 percent in the September quarter, which was below expectations.
Annual growth decreased to 0.8 percent, representing the worst performance outside the COVID-19 pandemic recession since 1990-91.
In per capita terms, the economy contracted by 0.3 percent for the seventh consecutive quarter.
This decline has resulted in a 2.2 percent drop in net national income per person over the past year, equating to a loss of $1,660.
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