Qantas Group announced it was reviewing some of its key operating facilities’ size and location as 20,000 employee stand-downs near finalization.
The review would mostly focus on non-aviation facilities such as offices, but would also look to touch flight simulator centers in Sydney and Melbourne, and heavy maintenance facilities in Brisbane, the company’s statement read on September 15, 2020. If possible, Qantas said it would like to centralize each of its service branches into single operational points from across Australia.
The decision to consolidate naturally followed the company’s workforce downsizing program, out of which 25% of layoffs were reportedly corporate and head office employees. Since the airline does not require as much space anymore, there is an opportunity to reinforce its financial standing further.
“As well as simply rightsizing the amount of space we have, there are opportunities to consolidate some facilities and unlock economies of scale,” chief financial officer Venessa Hudson said, “We’re looking right across the organization for efficiencies, including our $40 million annual spend on leased office space.”
After suffering nearly $2 billion in statutory losses in FY20, Qantas expects to “be a much smaller company for a while,” focusing on setting the Group up for long term recovery.
