Virgin Australia to axe 3000 jobs, sell long-haul jets in relaunch

Virgin Australia will sack 3000 employees, or about a third of its workforce, retire its budget Tigerair brand and offload its long-haul international jets as part of a re-launch under its new owner Bain Capital. Australia's number two airline, which went into voluntary administration in April owing $6.8b, released its relaunch plan on Wednesday. The moves were designed to make it a "stronger, more profitable and competitive" carrier, it said in a statement. Virgin said it will strip its fleet of 132 aircraft back to just its Boeing 737s, of which it has 79, and its regional and charter Fokker 100s and Airbus A320s. It will offload its long-haul Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s, Tigerair A320 and ATR turboprops. Virgin's budget Tigerair brand will be retired but Virgin will maintain its air operating certificate to give it the option of relaunching a new ultra-low cost arm in the future. While long-haul international flying was an "important part" of the airline's future, services to Los Angeles and Tokyo will remain suspended until global travel demand recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin said. Customers will still be able to book international flights with code share partners. Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah said that domestic and short-haul international travel demand was likely to take at least three years to recover, “with the chance it could be longer”. “Which means as a business, we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world”, he said. <br/>