Qantas executives tell Senate inquiry they need a level playing field against rival Virgin Australia

QANTAS insists it will always put Australia first but is still determined to cut jobs to secure the airline’s future.

Alan Joyce

QANTAS has reiterated its determination to cut jobs in a bid to secure the airline's future, while calling on the Federal Government to provide a level playing field against rival Virgin Australia.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and senior Qantas executives faced a senate inquiry into the future of Qantas in Sydney today.

In an opening statement, Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans said Qantas could be relied on to “always put Australia first”.

“There are those who say that Qantas no longer really matters to Australia. That whether Qantas sinks or swims as a business is immaterial to the future of this country. They are wrong,” Mr Evans said.

“No other airline in the world can be relied upon to always put Australia first.”

The Qantas statement, delivered before Mr Joyce began answering questions from the senate committee, said the airline's future was under threat from an uneven playing field.

It pointed to the foreign stakeholders in rival Virgin, saying they had poured $300 million into capacity increases while Virgin was making losses.

“It would be naive for anyone to think these sovereign airlines don't have an agenda in bankrolling our competitor. They do,” Mr Evans said.

“It is a strategy directed at weakening Qantas and promoting the interests of Virgin's foreign owners,” he said.

The Federal Government's Bill to remove foreign ownership limits on Qantas has cleared the House of Representatives, but looks set to fail in the upper house.

Mr Joyce was asked by the committee if he could guarantee that no more jobs would be cut if changes to foreign ownership caps were approved by Parliament.

“I can't rule anything in or out,” he said.

But if the restrictions were not lifted, Qantas would remain under financial pressure because of “market distortion”, and that distortion would cause more job losses, Mr Joyce said.