Qantas CEO Alan Joyce faces crisis talks with unions after axing 5000 jobs

QANTAS CEO Alan Joyce will face off with union officials today after announcing the airline will axe 5000 jobs to cut $2 billion in costs over three years.

Alan Joyce will face off with unions today after he announced 5000 full time jobs would be cut.

FEDERAL MP Clive Palmer has indicated he won't support law changes that would allow Qantas to be foreign-owned as the embattled carrier's chief prepares to meet union officials for crisis talks.

Qantas chief Alan Joyce will face union officials in Sydney on Friday morning after revealing plans to axe 5000 jobs as part of a bid to cut $2 billion in costs over three years.

Unions at the meeting are expected to seek a commitment to minimise job losses and support employees through the transition. Qantas's hopes for a government debt guarantee appear to have been quashed with the federal government on Thursday backing away from any promises.

Instead, Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the government would support a “level playing field” for the carrier, which hints at a possible repeal of the Qantas Sale Act which limits foreign ownership levels.

Mr Palmer, whose Palmer United Party could dictate the fate of Qantas in the new Senate from July 1, has indicated his senators will block any such move.

“There will be no amendments to the Qantas Sale Act that our senators will vote for,” the lower house MP for the Queensland seat of Fairfax told the ABC.

“I've discussed it with all of them and there'll be no amendments to the act and that'll be it.”

News_Image_File: Qantas staff walk through the terminal of Sydney domestic airport yesterday.

The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) called on both major federal political parties to accept a compromise deal on the Qantas Sale Act.

A compromise would remove the 25 per cent limit on a single foreign investor, 35 per cent cap on foreign ownership, while retaining the cap on total foreign ownership at 49 per cent. “The current political debate over the Qantas Sale Act is unnecessarily absolutist,” AIPA president Nathan Safe said in a statement on Friday.

ACTU secretary Dave Oliver says he will seek a commitment from Qantas to share “relevant information” about the decisions that led to the job cuts at the meeting.

“I don’t think it’s proper that Alan Joyce stand up to the world and say that we’ve got to get $2 billion of savings and 5000 jobs,” he told ABC radio.

“It’s easy for him to start bandying about numbers, but what we’re talking about is 5000 livelihoods.” He says it is premature to talk about industrial action at this stage.

News_Image_File: Qantas customers check themselves in at Sydney domestic airport after the airlines announcement yesterday.

Mr Joyce cautioned the unions against any industrial action which would only add “oil to the fire”.

He said unions and employees should lock arms with management and the federal government to find a solution to the carrier’s woes and “fight for a fair go” for Qantas.

“We need this to be resolved and we need this to be resolved soon,” he told ABC radio.

Mr Joyce said the government recognised there was a “distortion” in the airline market and it was working on a deal to help the carrier.

Government assistance should be extended to Qantas because it fit the required criteria.

“They recognise that they have to do something, we’re working with them on what that something is.” Repealing the Qantas Sale Act “balances things up” but it’s not the only option.

“Once you have the Act repealed, we have to know that if there is a state-owned enterprise that they’re not going to have third problems.

“Both the Act and the third process need to be clear.” Mr Joyce defended his position and management decisions but said he shouldn’t be the only one held responsible.

He said the company has been profitable the majority of the time he’s been CEO.

“I believe I’m the man the board believes in, and the man the shareholders believe,” he said.

“If that changes ... they have absolute autonomy to determine who leads the company.”

News_Image_File: Maintenance workers are among those facing job cuts.

Mr Joyce told the Seven Network he had the backing of the Qantas board and shareholders.

When asked on the Sunrise program about their online poll showing 94 per cent of respondents thought he should resign, he said the airline had made money in nine out of the 10 years he had been in charge.

“I believe I’m the right person ... that decision is with the board and with the shareholders and they’re fully supportive of me and the management team,” Mr Joyce said.

“They believe we have the right plan, we have the plan to turn the business around.

“I’m committed and passionate about making sure this business is successful in the future and I have the courage to implement the plan that will turn around this business.” Mr Joyce said the board and the shareholders recognised the challenging environment the airline faced and recognised the plan was a good plan and was supportive of it.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said he supported Alan Joyce, and that running an airline was not “a popularity poll”. “Twenty years ago we didn’t have Emirates, Etihad, Qatar (airlines). We’ve had a massive growth in competition,” he told the Seven Network.

“The one thing that hasn’t changed ... is the industrial relations associated with running an airline.

“At least he’s (Joyce) trying to get the airline back on its feet.”

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