Qantas announces flight cuts, Jetstar CEO to depart

Qantas has announced it will be further cutting domestic flights to help combat rising fuel prices while Jetstar CE Gareth Evans is departing his role at the end of the year. Qantas revealed the news in a trading update, saying it will cut an additional 5% of domestic flights for July, August and September. This comes on top of a 10% reduction announced in May. The departure of Evans comes after two decades at the company, during which Evans has also served as Qantas CFO and CEO of Qantas International. He started as Jetstar CEO in 2017. The carrier also announced up to 19,000 employees across the Group will be offered a $5000 payment as the carrier continues to recover financially from the pandemic. Qantas revealed a $1.5b drop in net debt over the past six months. Qantas’ share price has lifted in early trade, advancing 0.7 per cent to $4.55 at 10.22am AEST. The one-off payment comes as part of efforts to hang onto staff amid mounting passenger frustrations about the airline. The boost, which will cost the group $87m, will be only for Qantas workers covered by enterprise bargaining agreements. Management and senior executives are not eligible for the payment.<br/>