Singapore Airlines introduces new services to Canberra, Wellington

National carrier Singapore Airlines will operate a new route, called the "Capital Express", to Australia's Canberra and New Zealand's Wellington, it announced in a news release on Wednesday (Jan 20).

Subject to regulatory approvals, flights will operate four times per week from Sep 20 on a Singapore-Canberra-Wellington route, with return flights on a Wellington-Canberra-Singapore route, it said.

Route timings for the new route based on a launch date of Sep 20, 2016. (Table: Singapore Airlines)


Flights along the new route will be operated with the 266-seat retrofitted Boeing 777-200s fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats, it added in the release.

Singapore Airlines said with the launch of Capital Express, it will be the first airline with flights between Canberra and Wellington, as well as the first to operate regularly scheduled international services to and from Canberra.

“This new service linking Singapore, Canberra and Wellington reflects the close ties between the three countries,” said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong.

Flights will be available for booking through the Singapore Airlines website, call centres and travel agents in the coming weeks, the company said.

SOURCE

Virgin takes full control of Tigerair Australia for US$0.88

Virgin on Friday (Oct 17) took full control of budget carrier Tigerair Australia, buying the remaining 40 percent it did not already own for A$1 (88 US cents) from its Singapore-listed parent.

Virgin Australia purchased a 60 percent stake in mid-2013 for A$35 million and said Tiger Holdings had agreed to sell the rest of the carrier, which has struggled to reach profitability, for the tiny sum, effectively ending their joint venture. Tiger will continue to licence its brand to Virgin.

Virgin Australia chief John Borghetti said the acquisition would allow it to fly to a number of new short-haul international destinations, providing growth opportunities for the business, while accelerating Tiger's drive for profitability.

"Given the ongoing subdued consumer demand in the Australian domestic market, the growth of the Tigerair Australia domestic fleet is likely to be reduced," he said. "Under this proposed transaction, we will benefit from the economies of scale and achieve profitability ahead of schedule by the end of 2016, by leveraging the resources of the wider Virgin Australia Group."

Tiger, the local subsidiary of Singapore Airlines' Tiger Airways, has a history of poor financial and operational performance.

The move, which is subject to Foreign Investment Review Board approval, comes after a difficult 12 months for Australian airlines as intense battle for market share saw both Virgin and Qantas suffer heavy losses. Virgin posted a full-year net loss of A$355 million, while Qantas suffered a record loss of A$2.8 billion.

SOURCE

Qantas posts record annual net loss of US$2.65b

Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday posted a record annual net loss of A$2.84 billion (S$3.3 billion), but chief executive Alan Joyce insisted clearer skies lie ahead after aggressively cutting costs.

The worse-than-expected result compared with a wafer-thin profit in the previous year, with one-off restructuring and redundancy payouts hammering the bottom line. But the biggest hit came from a A$2.6 billion non-cash writedown of the value of its ageing international fleet, largely due to the historic cost of aircraft purchased at a much lower Australian dollar exchange rate.

Qantas's underlying loss before tax in the 12 months to June 30 - its preferred measure of financial performance, which excludes one-off costs and writedowns - was A$646 million, slightly better than forecast. Analysts had been expecting a net loss of up to A$1.0 billion as the carrier also battles high fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals.

Qantas in February announced it was axing 5,000 jobs, deferring aircraft deliveries, freezing growth at Asian offshoot Jetstar and cutting routes in a bid to turn around its fortunes. Joyce said the worst was now over. "There is no doubt today's numbers are confronting, but they represent the year that is past," he said. "We have now come through the worst.

"With our accelerated Qantas Transformation programme we are already emerging as a leaner, more focused and more sustainable Qantas Group. There is a clear and significant easing of both international and domestic capacity growth, which will stabilise the revenue environment," he added. "We expect a rapid improvement in the group's financial performance -- and a return to underlying profit before tax in the first half of FY15, subject to factors outside our control."

Qantas's share price closed 6.95 per cent higher at A$1.385, with analysts saying investors felt a bottom had been reached. "It's a horrible read, but some light is visible at the end of the tunnel," said IG Markets' Evan Lucas of the results. "With this mass clear of the decks, has Qantas finally reached the bottom? Possibly. However, further staff reductions could be a reality, and fuel and forex remain consistently volatile."

'STANDING STILL IS NOT AN OPTION'

The airline's international arm continued to underperform, booking a loss of A$497 million compared with A$246 million in the 2013 financial year, with high fuel prices and foreign exchange movements blamed. Domestic operations turned a A$30 million profit - but this was substantially lower than the previous year, while its discount carrier Jetstar was A$116 million in the red.

Qantas, whose main domestic rival Virgin Australia is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad, has regularly complained that the 1992 Qantas Sales Act restricts its access to capital. The act caps foreign ownership at 49 per cent and in July the government agreed to relax the restrictions. While the 49 per cent cap remains, the change means a single foreign investor or foreign airline can boost their holding to a maximum 49 per cent from 25 per cent previously.

As a result Qantas said it would create a new unit for its international division, effectively separating it from the domestic arm - allowing it to increase the potential for future investment. "This will have no impact on the day-to-day operations, network or staffing at Qantas International," said Joyce.

The Transport Workers Union blamed a "lack of management" for the huge losses but Transport Minister Warren Truss said the projected return to profit in 2015 was encouraging. "While the numbers are dramatic, the reality is Qantas is a strong company and seems to be positioning itself for a better future," he said.

Joyce voiced similar sentiments despite the disappointing numbers. "Our cash balance and liquidity position is strong, and the group's overall financial performance is rapidly improving," he said. "We are removing costs to drive earnings growth. With our structural review complete, we can move forward with certainty."

SOURCE

Jetstar apologises after passengers reportedly told to flush drugs

Australian budget airline Jetstar has apologised after a crew member reportedly told passengers to flush any drugs they had down a toilet before their flight landed in Sydney.

The flight, from the Gold Coast to Sydney on Sunday, was carrying some passengers returning from a music festival, Sydney's Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday (July 30).

"We have been told there are sniffer dogs and quarantine officers waiting in the domestic terminal," the newspaper reported the flight attendant, who was not named, as saying. "If you need to dispose of anything you shouldn't have, we suggest you flush it now."

The airline did not confirm the words but said in a statement that it was required to play a pre-recorded quarantine message, which could also be delivered by the cabin crew, to passengers.

"The crew member's words were poorly chosen and are plainly at odds with the professional standards we'd expect from our team," it said.

"Our cabin crew play a vital role in ensuring the safety and well-being of our customers," Jetstar added. "We apologise to customers offended by the comments. We're addressing the matter with the cabin crew member involved."

It was not clear if there were dogs and officers at the terminal. The crew member's remarks received a mixed response.

One passenger on board the flight told the Daily Telegraph they were "shocked", adding: "Why would you tip people off about this?" but another commentator on Jetstar's Facebook page said having sniffer dogs at the airport was "entrapment" and "your cabin crew did the best thing for all".

SOURCE

Qantas to continue flying over Iraq

Australian airline Qantas on Tuesday (July 29) said it would continue flying over Iraqi airspace, despite alliance partner Emirates deciding to alter its routes over concerns about jihadist missile attacks following the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.

Qantas said while it no longer flew over Syria or Ukraine over fears their airspace could be "unsafe", "there is no information to suggest that there is risk to commercial aircraft passing over Iraq, particularly at the altitudes we fly".

"Qantas is one of many airlines that currently flies over parts of Iraq en route to Europe," the airline's chief pilot Dick Tobiano said in a statement. The carrier said its average altitude over the Middle East region was about 38,000 to 41,000 feet, far exceeding the US Federal Aviation Administration's recommendation of above 20,000 feet.

"Qantas would never compromise its passengers or crew by flying over an area if we thought it was unsafe," Tobiano said. "We will continue to monitor the situation closely and make any changes needed to ensure the safety of our passengers."

The risks of overflying combat zones has taken centre stage following the deaths of 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 after it was apparently shot down by a missile above rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine.

Emirates' president Tim Clark told London's The Times newspaper in an interview published on Monday his airline would stop flying over Iraq. He also predicted that other carriers would re-route their flights.

"This is a political animal but ... the fact of the matter is MH17 changed everything, and that was very nearly in European airspace," Clark said.

Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways said in a statement it would continue to fly over Iraq at this stage, adding that the "nature of the current security environment in Iraq is significantly different than in the Ukraine".

SOURCE

Qantas to remain majority Australian owned

The Australian government Wednesday abandoned plans to allow struggling national carrier Qantas to be majority overseas owned but agreed to a compromise that will see foreign investment restrictions eased. Qantas has been lobbying for help after a A$235 million (US$219 million) loss in the six months to December 31 and a decision to slash 5,000 jobs as it battles high fuel prices and fierce competition from subsidised rivals.

It wanted Canberra to relax the 1992 Qantas Sales Act which caps foreign ownership at 49 per cent, which it said restricted its access to capital. The act also stops foreign airlines from having more than a combined 35 per cent stake, and prevents individual foreign shareholders from owning more than 25 per cent.

The conservative government of Tony Abbott favoured watering down the legislation to allow majority foreign control but it faced opposition from Labor and other parties in the upper house Senate, where they vowed to block the change. Instead, the government has agreed to keep Qantas in Australian hands by maintaining the 49 per cent cap but also allowing a single foreign investor or foreign airline to boost their holding to a maximum 49 per cent.

Treasurer Joe Hockey said it was clear the government would not succeed with its original plan. "I think it is important to try and get Qantas onto the same playing field as its competitors," he told ABC radio. "An alternative was proposed by the Labor Party and we're prepared to accept that to give some stability to the rules governing the ownership of Qantas."

Labor transport spokesman Anthony Albanese welcomed the move. "We have stated from the very beginning that majority Australian ownership of Qantas is not negotiable," he said. Qantas, whose main domestic rival Virgin Australia is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad, said it would still prefer to see the restrictions removed completely.

"It's positive that there's general agreement that Qantas is disadvantaged by the sale act and that change is needed," it said in a statement. "While removing all restrictions that apply only to Qantas remains our preference for levelling the playing field, changing the 25 and 35 per cent limits would represent an improvement on the status quo."

SOURCE

Lion Air reportedly in talks to buy Qantas stake in Jetstar

Indonesian carrier Lion Air is reportedly in talks with Australia’s Qantas Airways to buy its stake in Singapore-based budget airline Jetstar Asia.

Reuters reported on Monday that the talks to acquire Qantas’ 49 per cent stake in Jetstar are still at an early stage, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

The source also said any purchase would have to be approved by Singapore regulators. It is not known how much the potential deal would be worth.

According to Reuters, a Qantas spokesperson called the matter “speculation”, while Jetstar and Lion Air declined to comment.

SOURCE

Qantas flight turns back to LA after leak 'floods aisles'

A Qantas A380 superjumbo flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne turned back an hour after take-off when a water leak flooded the plane's aisles, the airline and passengers said Thursday.

Flight QF94 returned to Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday with a passenger describing a "raging torrent of water" running down the two-deck aircraft's stairs.

Qantas said while there were no safety concerns following the leak, the captain decided to turn back "in the interests of passenger comfort".

"Crew on board did everything they could to help customers, including moving them to unaffected areas and providing spare blankets so they could stay dry," Qantas said in a statement.

"We are liaising with Airbus to understand what caused this fault."

A Qantas spokeswoman added that passengers were put up in hotels for the night and engineers were working to fix the problem.

An Australian on the flight, Ken Price, told Fairfax Media "all the passengers in the middle rows, all the middle rows towards the back, started jumping up" an hour into the journey.

"We just saw all this water just flowing down from the overhead compartments. We were right at the back of the plane and the stairs to go up were just a raging torrent of water."

Hollywood actress Nicole Yvette Brown, who was also on the flight, told broadcaster CNN it was the "scariest thing I've ever seen" as the initial trickle of water turned into a gushing stream.

"All of a sudden it looked like a trickle at first and I thought someone had spilled like a soda or a pop or something," the star of cult comedy TV show Community said.

"And then it just got bigger and bigger and filled up both aisles and it literally was like a river running down the aisles of the plane."

SOURCE

MH370 search yet to target most likely crash site: Inmarsat

The search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 is yet to target the most likely crash site after being distracted by what are now believed to be bogus signals, British company Inmarsat claimed Tuesday.

Inmarsat's scientists told the BBC's Horizon programme that they had calculated the plane's most likely flight path and a "hotspot" in the southern Indian Ocean in which it most likely came down.

The flight lost contact on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with total of 239 passengers and crew on board.

Hourly pings sent by the plane were received by Inmarsat's spacecraft, leading scientists to calculate its likely path.

Australian naval vessel Ocean Shield was dispatched to investigate, but before reaching the likely site it began to detect a signal that it believed was coming from the plane's black box, Inmarsat said.

Two months were spent searching 850 square kilometres (330 square miles) of sea bed northwest of Perth, but the source of the "pings" was not found and a submersible robot found no evidence of the airliner.

"It was by no means an unrealistic location but it was further to the northeast than our area of highest probability," Chris Ashton at Inmarsat told Horizon.

Experts from the satellite firm modelled the most likely flight path using the hourly pings and assuming a speed and heading consistent with the plane being flown by autopilot.

"We can identify a path that matches exactly with all those frequency measurements and with the timing measurements and lands on the final arc at a particular location, which then gives us a sort of a hotspot area on the final arc where we believe the most likely area is," explained Ashton.

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC), established to manage the search, said the four acoustic "pings" picked up by the black box detector attached to Ocean Shield had to be pursued at the time.

"The four signals taken together constituted the most promising lead in the search for MH370 and it was a lead that needed to be pursued until completion so the search team could either discount or confirm the area as the final resting place of MH370," JACC said in a statement to AFP.

Australian officials agree that a linear arc produced using the satellite messages, or "handshakes", leading to the southern Indian Ocean likely represents the plane's flight path.

But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said experts were still working to define the area to be scoured in the next phase of the search, which will plunge ocean depths of up to 6,000 feet.

"The search strategy group is continuing its analysis of satellite and aircraft performance data, along with a range of other information, to determine the area that offers the highest probability of finding the aircraft," a spokesman said.

"This is highly complex work that requires significant collaborative effort with international specialists. The revised search zone is expected to be available in the coming weeks."

Malaysia's civil aviation authority and Inmarsat last month released the raw satellite data after coming under criticism from relatives over the fruitless search.

However, its complexity has led to few independent conclusions being drawn about the likely crash site.

Malaysian Selamat Umar, whose son Mohamad Khairul Amri was on the ill-fated jetliner, questioned the motives behind the data release.

"I am not convinced at all by the data," he said. Why are they releasing it now? Before when we asked for it, they did not want to release it. What can we do with it now?" he said.

SOURCE

Qantas to lay off pilots in bid to revive profits

Struggling Australian airline Qantas on Wednesday said it will make dozens of pilots redundant for the first time in 40 years as it looks to slash costs to contain massive losses.

The national carrier, which announced it would cut 5,000 jobs from its workforce in February, will call for voluntary redundancies among its Boeing 747 and 767 pilots.

A spokesman said the airline was not placing an exact number on the redundancies until the application process was complete but reports said up to 100 positions, or just under 20 per cent of the 550 pilots for both fleets, were being targeted.

Qantas has around 2,000 pilots on its books.

The airline previously said it would retire both its ageing 747 and 767 fleets as part of a plan to save A$2 billion (US$1.8 billion) over the next three years, with chief executive Alan Joyce saying the airline was facing "some of the toughest conditions" it had ever seen.

Qantas chief pilot Dick Tobiano said in an internal message that plans to accelerate the retirement of the planes meant the airline was no longer able to manage the staff surplus through leave arrangements.

"It is anticipated that exits would be staggered corresponding with network and fleet reductions," he said.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) said the redundancies were "regrettable" but it would work with the company to "ensure the process was managed with as little pain to individual pilots as possible".

"Obviously from AIPA's perspective it is far better to see fleet reductions managed with older pilots stepping out on their own terms, rather than younger pilots being made redundant compulsorily," AIPA president Nathan Safe said.

While the cuts could see some of Qantas's most experienced pilots leave, Safe told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation he did not "have any concerns about a lack of experience resulting from this -- not at all".

"Many of the pilots who won't take the package or won't be targeted by the package are also some of our most experienced pilots."

Tobiano stressed to the pilots affected that the cuts did not reflect their contribution to Qantas but the "realities of our fleet plan and the realities we face".

Qantas has lobbied the government for support after it announced a A$235 million loss in the six months to December 31 as it grapples with competition from domestic rival Virgin Australia, which is majority-owned by state-run Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Air New Zealand.

Its plea for a debt guarantee, or a A$3 billion unsecured loan, was rejected, but the government said it would relax the Qantas Sale Act, which would remove restrictions limiting foreign ownership in the airline to 49 per cent.

The bill passed the lower house of parliament in March but has yet to reach the upper house Senate.

SOURCE

Plane lands safely in Australia after engine fire

A passenger plane carrying 93 people landed safely at Perth Airport on Tuesday despite a dramatic midair engine fire shortly after take-off, officials said.

No one was hurt during the scare on the Cobham Aviation jet bound from Perth for Barrow Island in Western Australia, but some passengers panicked.

"Fuel starting spewing out, caught alight, there was a bit of panic on board but the pilots were quite quick to react and cut fuel lines and then put it out," Jason Grimmett, who was on the plane, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"So we just turned around and came back in."

Grimmett said most of those on board remained calm as the four-engine plane returned to the terminal, but not all.

"There was a couple of guys that were panicking quite bad but we've still got three other engines, so unless something major goes wrong, just a bit of fuel caught alight," he said.

A spokeswoman for the government agency Airservices Australia told AFP there was a fire in the number two engine shortly after departure.

"The pilot shut it down, the flames were extinguished and the plane returned to Perth," she said.

"It landed safely and was able to taxi to its gate. The fire services provided an escort on the ground."

Witnesses on the ground said they saw flames billowing from an engine of the British Aerospace 146 jet while it was in the air and feared the worst.

"As soon as it got up over the buildings, I could see a 20 metre or 30 metre trail of red and white smoke coming from the left-hand engine," said a caller to local radio station 6PR, identified only as Gary.

"It was climbing at the time and it just looked terrible, it looked like it was going to be a disaster."

The airline is a charter company servicing regional Western Australia.

SOURCE

MH370 search estimated to be US$100m, the costliest ever

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is set to be the most expensive in aviation history, analysts say, as efforts to find the aircraft deep in the Indian Ocean show no signs of slowing.

The Boeing 777 vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, after veering dramatically off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and is believed to have gone down in the sea off Australia.

Australia, which is leading the search in a remote patch of water described as "unknown to man", has not put a figure on spending, but Malaysia has warned that costs will be "huge".

"When we look at salvaging (wreckage) at a depth of 4.5 kilometres, no military out there has the capacity to do it," Acting Transport and Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said Thursday.

"We have to look at contractors, and the cost of that will be huge."

Ravikumar Madavaram, an aviation expert at Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific, said Malaysia, Australia and China, which had the most nationals onboard the flight, were the biggest spenders and estimated the total cost up to now at about US$100 million.

"It's difficult to say how much is the cost of this operation... but, yes, this is definitely the biggest operation ever (in aviation history).

"In terms of costs this would be the highest," he told AFP.

In the first month of the search -- in which the South China Sea and Malacca Strait were also scoured by the US, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam -- the Pentagon said the United States military had committed US$7.3 million to efforts to find the plane.

Meanwhile the Indian Ocean search, in which assets have also been deployed by Australia, Britain, China, South Korea, Japan and New Zealand, has failed to find anything conclusive.

Hopes rest on a torpedo-shaped US Navy submersible, which is searching the ocean floor at depths of more than 4,500 metres in the vicinity of where four signals believed to have come from black box recorders were detected.

David Gleave, an aviation safety researcher at Britain's Loughborough University, said the costs "will be of the order of a hundred million dollars by the time we're finished, if we have found it (the plane) now".

But he said the longer it took to find any wreckage, the more costs would mount because scanning the vast ocean floor "will take a lot of money because you can only search about 50 square kilometres a day".

Salvaging anything would also depend on how deep the ocean is at the crash point and how dispersed the wreckage, with weather and politics also complicating factors, he said.

The fate of MH370 has drawn parallels with the hunt for Air France Flight 447 which plunged into the Atlantic in 2009.

The two-year operation to recover its black box, which involved assets from France, Brazil and the US, has been estimated to have cost 80-100 million euros, according to figures cited by France's Investigation and Analysis Bureau (BEA).

Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre says its main focus is still on finding flight MH370.

"It is one of the most difficult searches ever undertaken and could take some time," JACC said in a statement to AFP.

"The cost of the search is significant. The exact figure has not yet been calculated.

"The cost is being shared by our international partners who have contributed their people and military and civilian assets to help with the search."

As the search continues, all international partners are meeting their own costs. But governments and militaries will need to consider the broader cost implications of the search down the track, said Kym Bergmann, editor of Asia-Pacific Defence Reporter.

"I don't think that the Australians would be getting any change at all out of A$1 million day," he told AFP.

Bergman said it would likely be the most expensive aviation search given how long it had already dragged on.

"It must be starting to worry military planners," he said, adding that any decision to scale back would cause heartache to the families involved.

Malaysia-based Madavaram agreed, saying at present it was still "politically insensitive" to cut spending.

"I think they will continue one or two months irrespective of the costs," he said. "But then if nothing is found, it will become a wild goose chase, and people will start questioning it.”

SOURCE

Australia says "no blank cheques" for Qantas

The Australian government insisted on Tuesday there would be "no blank cheques" to bail out national carrier Qantas which admitted a plan to repeal legislation restricting foreign ownership was destined to fail.

The cabinet of conservative Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday evening said it would move to change a section of the Qantas Sales Act which limits foreign ownership to 49 per cent to free up capital for the airline.

But with the Labor opposition and other minor parties making clear they will oppose the legislation in the upper house Senate over fears jobs will be sent offshore, the proposal is effectively redundant.

Qantas said the changes were doomed, adding that it needed help now after a A$235 million (US$210 million) loss in the six months to December 31 and a decision to slash 5,000 jobs.

"We have consistently said that removal of foreign ownership provisions that apply uniquely to Qantas is an important longer term objective to create a fair and free aviation market in Australia," it said in a statement.

"However, it is clear that such a move would have limited chance of passing through the Senate."

Qantas complains that is battling not only high fuel prices but fierce competition from subsidised rivals such as key domestic competitor Virgin Australia, which is majority-owned by state-run Singapore Airlines, Etihad and Air New Zealand.

"We need immediate action to address the imbalance that has been allowed to persist for almost two years -- namely Virgin's unlimited ability to access foreign capital from government-owned airlines to fund a loss-making strategy against Qantas," it said.

"If this proposal by the government to change the Qantas Sale Act is not passed, we would expect the government and the parliament to consider alternative measures to balance the unlevel playing field in Australian aviation."

But Canberra has ruled out a debt guarantee or line of credit as short-term help and Treasurer Joe Hockey refused to budge on Tuesday.

"We are not writing out blank cheques," he said, with the government taking a hardline on taxpayer handouts to business since coming to office last year.

"There is no money," he added. "There's nothing left in the bank to write out largesse to individual companies."

SOURCE

Qantas unable to justify 5,000 job losses: unions

Union leaders on Friday said Qantas boss Alan Joyce could not justify why he needs to cut 5,000 jobs during crisis talks as the carrier stepped up pressure on the government to help stem massive losses.

After a posting a A$235 million (US$210 million) loss in the six months to December 31, Joyce met union heavyweights to detail his decision to axe the jobs and freeze wages following complaints of no consultation and threats of strike action.

But Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Dave Oliver said his explanation was not good enough.

"The company was not able to justify how they came up with the 5,000 jobs number," he told reporters.

Australian and International Pilots Association president Nathan Safe said "there's still a lot of uncertainty and a real lack of clarity".

Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon added: "The company has come to the table without the capacity to say what they're actually up to and how this is going to save one single job in the future."

The heavily unionised Flying Kangaroo was crippled by a series of rolling staff strikes in 2011 that culminated in Joyce grounding the entire fleet for two days, stranding tens of thousands of passengers worldwide.

Qantas's drastic restructuring, which also involves deferring delivery of new aircraft, is part of a plan to save A$2 billion over the next three years as it battles record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals.

Its major domestic competitor, Virgin Australia, is also suffering, posting its own first-half net loss of A$83.7 million on Friday, blaming its battle with Qantas for domestic market share and economic uncertainties.

Virgin chief John Borghetti urged the government to think carefully about the consequences if it helped bail out Qantas.

"Providing a financial facility to the detriment of the rest of the industry -- as I hope our government and opposition agree -- is wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right," he said.

"It is not our place to tell government what to do, but any government or opposition should think very carefully before it decides to pick winners in an industry."

Joyce wants the Qantas Sale Act, which limits foreign ownership in the airline to 49 per cent, changed so it can access more capital, while appealing for the government to guarantee the carrier's debt.

"Having a national airline is a national interest," said Joyce, who pointed to the carrier previously rescuing Australians in Egypt and Bali during times of turmoil.

"We are there at times of defence needs and there is a national interest for us."

While Canberra said it was open to pushing for changes to allow majority foreign ownership -- a move opposed by the Labor opposition and the Greens which can block it in the upper house Senate -- it appears to be backing away from a debt guarantee.

"Airlines are providing essential services but there is more than one airline, and what you do for one business, you have to be prepared to do for all like businesses," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Friday.

"That's the issue that we face with the request for a debt guarantee or a line of credit for Qantas."

Joyce said Qantas only wanted "a fair go" on a level competitive playing field and that any debt guarantee would just be a standby facility to be used in an emergency.

"The best way to guarantee the security of Australian jobs is to have a profitable, fit Qantas that can compete in the current environment," he said.

SOURCE

Virgin Australia posts big first-half loss

Australian budget carrier Virgin slumped to a first-half net loss of A$83.7 million (US$75 million) on Friday, blaming intense competition, subdued demand and economic uncertainties.

The results follow major domestic rival Qantas on Thursday announcing a A$235 million loss over the same six month period to December 31. To cope, Qantas will axe 5,000 jobs and defer aircraft deliveries.

There was no similar drastic action by Virgin Australia, the country's second-biggest airline, despite a significant hit to its bottom line after a A$23 million profit in the same period last year.

"The result reflects the tough trading conditions across the entire industry for the first half of financial year 2014," said chief executive John Borghetti.

"The Australian aviation market continues to be impacted by the significant capacity growth which occurred during the 2013 financial year, compounded by weak economic conditions and the inability to recover the cost of the carbon tax."

The airline said the country's controversial tax -- a levy on each tonne of carbon pollution -- added A$27 million to its costs.

Its underlying pre-tax loss -- the airline's preferred measure of financial performance -- was A$49.7 million.

Virgin, which is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad, said that while revenue jumped 6.4 per cent to A$2.2 billion, costs increased 4.5 per cent.

The airline declined to provide any full-year guidance.

SOURCE

Qantas to axe 5,000 jobs, end Perth-S'pore route

Struggling Australian carrier Qantas on Thursday said it will axe 5,000 jobs, defer aircraft deliveries and suspend growth at Asian offshoot Jetstar in a major shake-up after deep first-half losses, warning of more pain to come.

The airline, battling record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals, posted an interim net loss of A$235 million (US$210 million) in the six months to December 31 as it faces some of its toughest conditions ever.

Underlying loss before tax -- the airline's preferred measure of financial performance -- came in at A$252 million, a figure chief executive Alan Joyce called "unacceptable and unsustainable".

"Hard decisions will be necessary to overcome the challenges we face and build a stronger business," said Joyce, who will take a 36 per cent wage cut as the company works to slash costs by A$2 billion over three years.

Part of the restructure will see 5,000 full-time positions lost from the carrier's 32,000-strong workforce by 2017 with a wage freeze across the network until the airline returns to profit.

"I regret the need for these wide-ranging job losses, but we will do everything we can to make the process easier for employees who leave the business," Joyce said.

"At the end of this transformation, Qantas will remain an employer of more than 27,000 people, the vast majority based in Australia -- and we will be a better and more competitive company."

Australia's Labor opposition called it "the worst day for aviation people since the collapse of Ansett", referring to the former Australian airline that went under in 2001, while unions said workers were being punished for poor management.

"Qantas management has today outlined a demolition job, but failed to follow through with a strategy for how it will grow the business and serve the national interest," said Nathan Safe, president of the influential Australian and International Pilots Association.

The carrier flagged "significant changes" to its fleet plans and network and a reduction in capital expenditure of A$1 billion across the next two financial years.

This will see the selling or deferred delivery of 50 aircraft, including the eight remaining Airbus A380s it has on order.

"Tough decisions" ahead

Qantas will also axe its Perth to Singapore route and suspend new growth plans for Jetstar.

"When it comes to Jetstar in Asia, we need to take the right decisions in accord with current market circumstances and our balance sheet," said Joyce.

"In Singapore, growth has been suspended by the Jetstar Asia board until such time as conditions improve."

Following an interim profit warning in December, Moody's and S&P both downgraded Qantas' credit rating to "junk" status, increasing its financing costs and restricting access for investors who do not put their money in lower-rated companies.

Qantas has since been working to convince the government it deserves a debt guarantee, while lobbying Canberra to relax the Qantas Sale Act which limits foreign ownership in the airline to 49 per cent.

Joyce argues that the cap, which restricts access to capital, is hurting Qantas' ability to compete, particularly against domestic rival Virgin Australia -- majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad.

Australia's conservative government said this week it was drafting laws to allow Qantas to be majority foreign-controlled and for a single foreign shareholder to own more than 25 per cent.

But the legislation is unlikely to pass through the upper house Senate with Labor and the Greens opposing majority overseas ownership, while remaining open to an assistance package.

Joyce warned of more difficult decisions ahead.

"We must defer growth and cut back where we can, so that we can invest where we need to. We have already made tough decisions and nobody should doubt that there are more ahead," he said.

Qantas shares closed nine per cent lower at A$1.15.5.

SOURCE

Qantas may cut 5,000 jobs

Struggling Australian carrier Qantas on Tuesday said it was committed to slashing costs by Aus$2 billion (US$1.8 billion) but refused to confirm or deny a report that it will axe 5,000 jobs.

The airline has been battling record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals and in December said 1,000 jobs would go while warning it faced a half-year loss of up to Aus$300 million.

Its interim result is due on Thursday and the Sydney Daily Telegraph, citing a Qantas source, said the job losses would be much worse as the airline restructures its finances to convince the government it deserves a debt guarantee.

As well as sacking 5,000 staff, the newspaper said Qantas may sell some of its terminals, while The Australian reported it would accelerate the retirement of older planes and defer new orders.

The airline refused to go into details.

"There is fresh speculation about what things we will or won't announce on Thursday as part of our half-year results. We are not in a position to comment on that speculation," the flag carrier said in a statement.

"We have said that we will be making some tough decisions in order to achieve $2 billion in cost savings over the next three years, which is a consequence of an unprecedented set of market conditions now facing Qantas."

Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon said Qantas must come clean on its restructuring plans with staff on edge over potential mass sackings.

"Another day, another rumour of massive job cuts and the sale of planes and terminals," he said.

"Each baggage handler, check-in staff and ramp worker generates a $205,000 return to Qantas above the cost of their employment. Sacking them is like a tradesman selling his tools to pay a one-off bill."

Qantas has said it faces "immense" challenges and has been lobbying the government to ease limits in foreign investment or provide state intervention to help shore up its bottom line.

Canberra has made clear there will be no taxpayer handouts but has flagged support for a relaxation of the Qantas Sale Act, which limits foreign ownership in the airline to 49 percent, or a possible debt facility.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce argues that the cap is hurting Qantas's ability to compete by restricting access to capital, particularly against domestic rival Virgin Australia, which is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad.

Transport Minister Warren Truss on Tuesday said the conservative government was drafting laws to allow Qantas to be majority foreign-controlled while allowing a single foreign shareholder to own more than 25 percent.

"The government is philosophically attracted to levelling the playing field," he said, although Labor and the Greens have vowed to block any legislation in the upper house Senate.

They are against allowing majority overseas ownership, but open to the government providing an assistance package.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the government accepted the carrier was having to compete with the "ball and chain" of the Qantas Act.

"But in the end Qantas do have to get their own house in order," he said.

Following the profit warning in December, Moody's and S&P both downgraded Qantas' credit rating to "junk" status, increasing the cost of financing for the carrier and restricting access for investors that do not put their money in lower-rated companies.

The carrier pledged to press ahead with cost cutting regardless of whether the government decides to help.

"We've said that we must take steps to reduce our costs regardless of whether the federal government acts on the uneven playing field in the Australian aviation market," it said in the statement.

Qantas shares closed 0.40 percent lower at Aus$1.23.5.

SOURCE

Australian PM says no hand-outs for struggling Qantas

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday said there will be no taxpayer hand-outs for struggling national carrier Qantas but flagged support for lifting foreign ownership restrictions on the airline.

Qantas has been lobbying the government to ease limits in foreign investment or provide state intervention to help shore up its bottom line as it battles record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals.

Chief executive Alan Joyce has been in Canberra this week to push for a relaxation of the Qantas Sale Act, which limits foreign ownership to 49 per cent, or a possible debt guarantee.

Joyce argues that the cap is hurting Qantas's ability to compete by restricting its access to capital, particularly against domestic rival Virgin Australia, which is majority-owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad.

Abbott admitted the law was a problem.

"Qantas have been shackled by legislative restrictions that were put in place by the Labor Party back in the 1990s and I think it would be perfectly appropriate to unshackle Qantas," he said.

"But I do have to say there is no free ride on the taxpayer for private companies."

Since coming to power last year, the conservative government has adopted a hard line on industry assistance, warning only last week that "the age of entitlement is over" when it comes to taxpayer-funded hand-outs.

It refused to offer any incentives to automakers Holden or Toyota, both of whom have now said they will stop making cars in Australia.

Abbott said: "It's not the job of the federal government or the prime minister or the would-be prime minister to rush down the street waving a blank cheque at businesses."

He added: "So, yes, let's have a level playing field for Qantas. Let's not have Qantas competing with Virgin and others with one hand tied behind its back."

As well as limiting foreign ownership in Qantas to 49 per cent, the act also prohibits any offshore entity controlling more than 25 per cent of the carrier.

In December, Qantas said it was facing some of its toughest-ever challenges as it flagged a half-year loss of up to AUD$300 million (US$269 million) and the axing of 1,000 jobs. The airline reports its interim first-half results later this month.

The Labor opposition is against allowing majority overseas ownership of Qantas, but is open to the government providing an assistance package.

Virgin has said it would be happy to see Qantas relieved of its ownership restrictions but disputes the need for government support.

SOURCE

Moody's downgrades Qantas to "junk" status

Embattled Australian carrier Qantas faces a further increase in its borrowing costs after Moody's downgraded its credit rating to "junk" status on Thursday, just weeks after Standard and Poor's took the same action.

Moody's cited "a sharp deterioration in the company's core domestic business" following the airline issuing a shock profit warning and slashing jobs in December.

In cutting Qantas's rating to Ba2, or junk status, from Baa3, Moody's senior vice president Ian Lewis blamed aggressive competition from domestic rival Virgin Australia.

"The downgrade to Ba2 reflects a worse-than-expected impact on Qantas's credit profile of a marked sharp deterioration in the company's core domestic business, which has been a key supporting factor of its previous investment-grade rating", he said.

"The cause of the deterioration in the operating profile is largely due to the aggressive competitive actions by Qantas's key domestic competitor, Virgin Australia Holdings."

S&P last month cut the airline's rating from BBB-, the lowest investment grade, to BB+ and placing it on a credit watch with negative implications.

The ratings put Qantas in what is known as "junk" status among professional investors, increasing the cost of financing for the carrier and restricting access for investors that do not put their money in lower-rated companies.

Qantas flagged a half-year loss of up to A$300 million (US$267 million) and said it would axe 1,000 jobs as it struggles under the weight of record fuel costs and fierce competition from Virgin.

SOURCE

Emirates rules out financial lifeline for Qantas

Emirates president Tim Clark said he is carefully watching developments at alliance partner Qantas, but ruled out throwing a financial lifeline to the embattled Australian flag carrier, in comments reported on Monday.

Earlier this month, Qantas forecast a half-year loss of up to Aus$300 million (US$269 million) and said it would axe 1,000 jobs, leading to a credit downgrade from Standard & Poor's, which cut its rating to "junk" status.

Qantas blamed its predicament on record fuel costs and fierce competition from subsidised rivals, particularly Virgin Australia, which is majority owned by state-backed Singapore Airlines, Air New Zealand and Etihad.

Chief Alan Joyce has been lobbying the government to relax the Qantas Sale Act, which limits foreign ownership in the national carrier to 49 percent, arguing the cap hurts its ability to compete, particularly against Virgin Australia.

But even if the government decides to lift the foreign ownership restrictions, which it has indicated is possible, Clark said he would not be pumping in any cash.

In an emailed statement to the West Australian newspaper, published Monday, Clark said he "would watch it (the situation) carefully" but Emirates did not have the "bottomless pit of cash" Virgin Australia's partner Etihad Airways had.

"So no, equity is not on the table," Clark said.

Emirates formalised an alliance with Qantas earlier this year, seen as vital to the sustainability of the Australian airline.

It allows both carriers to combine operations for an initial period of five years, including coordinating ticket prices and schedules.

The deal also opened up Qantas's lucrative Australian domestic network of more than 50 destinations to Emirates customers.

SOURCE