Virgin Australia set to stand down staff as COVID-19 lockdowns halt travel

Virgin Australia is poised to announce a fresh wave of stand downs across its workforce as soon as Wednesday as the aviation industry struggles with lockdowns and border closures that have slashed travel around the country.

Several industry sources familiar with Virgin’s thinking, but who were not authorised to speak on the record, said the lockdowns could affect more than 1000 staff at the airline.

Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka, centre, will announce stand downs.Credit:Attila Csaszar

A spokeswoman for Virgin Australia said the airline was “consulting with unions to manage the reduced demand in flying and the available hours of work over the next 1-2 months.”

It comes a day after Qantas announced it would stand down about 2500 staff after its flights dropped to 40 per cent of pre-lockdown levels and two days after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce unveiled a new domestic support package for the industry.

Airline staff who cannot access the federal coronavirus disaster payment of up to $750 a week, which only applies to people who live or work in COVID-19 hotspots such as Sydney, will be eligible for payments of the same amount via the Retaining Domestic Airline Capability scheme.

US private equity group Bain Capital bought Virgin out of administration after it collapsed last year and cut thousands of roles from the airline’s former total of about 9000.

Mr Joyce was forced to clarify on Tuesday that airline staff in ground roles were eligible for the government payments after initially suggested they would be excluded, though only direct airline employees are included. Thousands of workers at contract ground staff providers will miss out as a result.

The Australian Aviation Ground Handlers Industry Alliance, which includes major companies that unload and services planes on the ground such as Swissport, welcomed the government’s announcement but wants it to cover the 11,000 workers they employ.

“The inescapable fact is that if professional aviation ground handling jobs are lost because government support is restricted to airlines only, planes will be unable to fly even when pilots and passengers are ready to do so,” a spokesman said.

More to come.

Nick Bonyhady is industrial relations reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based between Sydney and Parliament House in Canberra.

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