‘All won’t return’ of 14,000 Flight Centre staff released

FLIGHT Centre could leave up to 14,000 staff stood down for years to come as a second wave of COVID-19 and ongoing international border closures continues to threaten the already decimated travel industry.

Queensland industry giant Flight Centre Travel Group has been hit harder than most companies through the pandemic – with 70 per cent of its workforce stood down and shares plunging from $39 to $11 in five months.

The company’s active workforce has fallen from 20,000 to just 6000 workers, and Managing Director Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner expects it will be some time before they all return to work.

“It will be a long road ahead,” he said.

“We’ve lost about 14,000 people, stood down.”

Mr Turner hoped some workers would return within six months, but acknowledged it would be “nowhere near those 14,000”.

“We’ve got a little bit of business coming back … but it will depend entirely on the government directives,” he said.

“It’s a bit hard to predict, but we want to bring back quite a few people when the demand is there.”

Mr Turner believes international travel will be “pretty much back to normal” at the start of the 2023 financial year.

The Queensland travel millionaire, whose personal Flight Centre share portfolio has taken a beating, believes the only real saviour for the travel industry is international flights.

Flight Centre’s domestic bookings had spiked on news the Queensland border would open, but optimism took a “backward step” when Victoria’s cases skyrocketed.

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