Is airline industry ready for Tasmania to rejoin travel circuit?

Thousands of staff across the aviation sector have been stood down, says Helen Polley

TODAY in Tasmania we face continued hardship across many industries as COVID-19 restrictions play out in the continuing protection of our island state from this deadly bug. But one question that must be asked is how are our nations’ airlines going to support recovery across our state as well as our country?

Do airlines have the ability to ramp up to meet the demand for domestic air travel on Monday? A recent survey by the Transport Workers Union found 93 per cent of all workers had been stood down.

Many aviation workers, that include ground staff, pilots and air crew as well as a multitude of associated supporting industries here in Tasmania and across the mainland are currently either on JobKeeper or JobSeeker payments. The likelihood of any return to work is only likely to worsen without a government action plan.

The government needs to come to the table, and work with unions and aviation companies to act before it’s too late and our airlines reach a point of no return.

Given the announcement of $2 billion in losses at Qantas there are likely to be more job losses on top of the 6000 already announced.

The downturn of flights to Tasmania has put support services at airports into jeopardy like those of aviation firefighters employed by AirServices Australia, Dnata, Cabin Services Australia, airside staff, terminal staff and airport security workers.

Tasmanian workers, passengers and businesses need a comprehensive airline recovery plan to deal with the return to normal after this crisis, or there simply won’t be any industry left on the other side of this pandemic.

Aviation is in the middle of a once-in-a-generation crisis brought on by a once-in-ageneration pandemic and this is absolutely flowing on to workers in the aviation industry. I have called on the government to work with unions and businesses within the industry on a national plan to provide support and certainty.

The International Air Transport Association has already said that 2020 will be the worst year in history for airlines with net losses of $84.3 billion. And frankly we do not know what will happen once borders re-open and people are free to travel between our states and territories.

We can’t expect airlines and aviation companies to do it by themselves. The government needs to listen to Australia’s unions like the Transport Workers Union, the Australian Services Union as well as international leaders like the International Transport Federation.

Airports and airlines are joining the call for a national plan for recovery and importantly so for Tasmania. We need it now.

This must be accompanied by a national approach to COVID safety on planes, led by the federal government, so we see confidence returning to airline travel and tourists coming to Tasmania. They