Hard decisions are being made

THE impacts of COVID-19 have forced many businesses to make decisions to ensure their survival.

Almost every firm has had to make cuts and that sadly includes the loss of jobs.

Many companies have or are becoming leaner and meaner to prepare for post-coronavirus activity.

No-one has been immune and tough decisions have had to be made.

So it’s of no surprise that Qantas has made the drastic move to cut 6000 jobs as it prepares to become “a smaller airline” in the short-term. It had to happen.

CEO Allan Joyce says many will be putting up their hands for redundancies.

There are many long-term employees at the airline.

There is also a lot of dead wood, biding their time, across all aspects of the carrier’s operations.

There are some archaic union practices that have stifled the airline’s progress.

Now is a time to sweep clean and create a workforce that is in tune with modern times, that can multiskill, and understand the airline’s strategic goals.

It is also an opportunity to promote those who know how a contemporary airline should be run and who have bright and forwardthinking ideas.

Qantas was a bureaucracy despite the efforts of Mr Joyce and his team of executives to make it an up-todate corporation.

The unions are not happy but they never are and cannot expect the government to subsidise its operations.

Qantas has bitten the bullet and the post-COVID structure will ensure its future in an extremely competitive world.

Nick Dalton Deputy editor