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Qantas aviators in Sydney: business on the ground
Photo: Rob Griffith / AP
No, Alan Joyce will probably no longer be poor in this life.
With an annual salary of $ 1.24 million, it's still pretty good.
However, the head of the Australian airline Qantas was used to something else: last year he was still one of the highest-paid managers on the continent, earning nearly ten million a year.
Since Corona plunged his airline into crisis, the boss also earns less.
Between April and July, the CEO even waived his salary altogether - probably also to send a signal.
After all, his employees were far worse off.
The vast majority of them are still unemployed and need government support.
A third of the workforce should go completely: Qantas announced that it would cut 8,500 jobs.
The boss's wage waiver is of course "not the same harshness as those who have been dismissed or who are threatened with dismissal," said supervisory board chairman Richard Goyder.
"But there comes a time when the demands on management are greater than ever."
The aviation industry is in deep crisis worldwide.
European airlines like Air France or Lufthansa had to be saved by their respective state governments with billions.
In the meantime, they can at least offer some connections within Europe, sometimes even long-haul flights to other continents.
Qantas, however, is more or less trapped in Australia: the country has closed its borders.
Sightseeing flights as a rescue
The airline is now trying to get its fleet back into the air, at least partially, with long-haul sightseeing flights to nowhere.
A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is scheduled to take off from Sydney on October 10 and then fly relatively low over the country's most famous attractions, before landing again seven hours later in Sydney without a stopover.
Among other things, passengers can marvel at the Great Barrier Reef, Uluru and Sydney Harbor from above.
There is obviously no lack of demand, despite the prices of the equivalent of 2300 euros in the business class: the trip was booked out within just ten minutes.
"This is probably the fastest sold-out flight in Qantas history," said a company spokesman.
One is now considering "definitely" offering more such flights.
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sbo / rtr / dpa
