A near total collapse in travel demand due to the global Covid-19 pandemic plunged Qantas Group A$2.7 billion into the red.
The losses for the year to June 30 came as the Australian company’s chief executive Alan Joyce described the second half of the financial year as the toughest the national carrier had faced in its 100 years.
Around 4,000 of at least 6,000 redundancies is expected to be finalised by the end of September, with continued union consultation.
A further 20,000 Qantas workers remain temporarily stood down.
The international network is unlikely to restart before July 2021; possibly earlier for routes to New Zealand.
Qantas’ regular scheduled international flights effectively ceased in April, replaced by more than 100 services operated on behalf of the Australian government to cities including Hong Kong, London, Los Angles, Lima, Buenos Aires and Mumbai.
Joyce said: “The impact of Covid on all airlines is clear. It’s devastating and it will be a question of survival for many.
“What makes Qantas different is that we entered this crisis with a strong balance sheet and we moved fast to put ourselves in a good position to wait for the recovery.”
He added: “We’ve had to make some very tough decisions in the past few months to guarantee our future. At least 6,000 of our people will leave the business through no fault of their own, and thousands more will be stood down for a long time.
“Recovery will take time and it will be choppy. We’ve already had setbacks with borders opening and then closing again.
“But we know that travel is at the top of people’s wish lists and that demand will return as soon as restrictions lift. That means we can get more of our people back to work.
“Covid is reshaping the competitive landscape and that presents a mix of challenges and opportunities for us.
“Most airlines will come through this crisis a lot leaner, which means we have to reinvent how we run parts of our business to succeed in a changed market.”
The annual results showed how the Covid crisis had derailed what would have been a strong financial performance.
Joyce said: “We were on track for another profit above A$1 billion when this crisis struck.
“Covid will continue to have a huge impact on our business and we’re expecting a significant underlying loss in FY21.
“Looking further ahead, we’re in a good position to ride out this storm and make the most of the recovery.
“Our market position is set to strengthen as the only Australian airline with a full service and low fares domestic offering as well as long haul international services.”