Australia's unions, tourism industry concerned over impact of Qantas job cuts

Australia's Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Queensland Tourism Industry Council (QTIC) are concerned about the impact of 5,000 job cuts at Qantas, local media reported on Thursday. Australian airline Qantas on Thursday announced its plans to cut 5,000 jobs over the next three years to achieve 2 billion AU dollars (1.8 billion U.S. dollars) in cost reductions by the 2017 financial year. The national carrier on Thursday reported a half-year loss of 252 million AU dollars (225 million U.S. dollars) before tax. TWU officials are holding a national telephone conference about the job cuts, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Qantas Chief Executive Alan Joyce is expected to meet with unions officials on Friday to provide more details. TWU Queensland branch secretary Peter Biagini says the airline services will be affected by the job cuts. "The staffing levels are really tight now and to have more redundancies would mean they're not going to fly as often," Biagini told ABC. "Since two years ago when Alan Joyce locked the plane and grounded the airline they've lost their market share and they've never recovered since. "It was a bad decision then and it it's a bad decision that's led to today's debacle." QTIC Chief Executive Officer Daniel Gschwind says Queensland's tourism industry needs Qantas to continue to be successful. "We want Qantas to continue to be successful and to provide the incredibly important service that they do along with other airlines for our industry," Gschwind said. "We are an island nation and we have to bring international visitors here by aircraft and fly them around the country, so without strong airlines we are in big trouble."