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The Qantas company is groaning under the corona lockdown in parts of Australia
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SAEED KHAN / AFP
Due to the ongoing corona lockdowns in parts of Australia and the inner-Australian border closings, the national airline Qantas is temporarily releasing 2,500 employees.
The measure affects both pilots and flight attendants as well as ground staff from Qantas and the subsidiary Jetstar, as the company announced.
Employees would still be paid for two weeks before the leave of absence came into effect in mid-August.
The measure should initially apply for two months and have a direct impact on the pilots, cabin crew and airport employees, especially in New South Wales.
Job cuts are not planned.
"That is of course the last thing we wanted to do, but we are now facing a long period of reduced flight operations - and that means many of our people have no jobs," said Qantas managing director Alan Joyce.
Both airlines could currently only offer 40 percent of their usual domestic flights.
Union speaks of a "devastating" announcement
The Australian Services Union (ASU) described the announcement as "devastating" for those affected.
"These employees have been through 18 months of hell behind them - many have exhausted their savings, have been forced to sell their houses and tap into important pension funds," said a union spokeswoman.
Because of the spread of the delta variant, the metropolis of Sydney and parts of the state of New South Wales have been in lockdown since the end of June.
The regions of Victoria and South Australia also had tightened measures at times, and Queensland has been in lockdown since the weekend.
Travel within the country has been severely restricted for weeks.
hba / dpa / Reuters
