Airlines chiefs urge states to keep borders open

Airlines are anticipating an announcement of financial assistance beyond JobKeeper but say open borders would help the most.

Virgin Australia crew including from L to R Nico Porter(CS), Bianca Yates, Captain Paul Anderson and Delia Taylor are set to benefit from a suite of assistance measures being rolled out by the federal government to help airlines and the tourism industry continue to recover. Picture: John Feder

Airline chiefs are urging state ­government’s to back the tourism industry rescue packge by not continuing to close borders in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Qantas, Virgin Australia and Regional Express (Rex) were all anticipating targeted assistance for the industry in recognition of the hardship they faced in the ongoing pandemic.

Federal government data showed that, in the past year, 41 million fewer domestic air trips were taken within Australia compared with the previous 12 months.

The package, to be announced on Thursday, will include half-priced airfares to stimulate domestic travel. Fares on more than 30 leisure routes will be subsidised to help fill airline seats.

The package is also expected to include funding for training and the retention of skilled workers to ensure airlines can quickly schedule more flights as demand for travel returns.

For Qantas, state and national border closures remained the biggest impediment to recovery, and chief executive Alan Joyce said it was imperative the fixation with “zero COVID cases” ended.

At a business summit this week, he implored governments to commit to keeping state borders open and aim to reopen international borders in October.

“Why can’t we open up at the end of October is the question. And if we don’t, I can’t figure out what the next milestone is. Perhaps somebody can tell us what are we waiting for? What does perfection look like?” Mr Joyce said.

“We want to get one rule on domestic borders so we can get them open and continuously open and hope it doesn’t go back. I think you have to be bold.”

Virgin Australia chief Jayne Hrdlicka previously warned of more job cuts at the airline, without ongoing assistance to help the 3000 workers waiting to be stood back up. After emerging from administration with new owners Bain Capital, Virgin shed one-third of its staff in a shift to a leaner, mid-market carrier.

“When the borders are open and closing, it’s impossible for the industry to support itself because we have such a highly skilled labour pool and while we’ve got this period of volatility, we desperately need support,” Ms Hrdlicka told a Senate committee last month.

Rex deputy chair John Sharp was adamant borders needed to reopen but was not optimistic.

In the absence of such certainty, financial assistance for airlines was imperative and any measures needed to be distributed evenly to maintain a “level playing field”, he said.

“Don’t kid yourself that we’ve seen the last of state border closures. We live with the ever present risk of that,” he said. “But any assistance has to be not just for Rex’s sake — whatever’s available has to be available for all operators, otherwise it will make it impossible for some to compete.”

Australian Tourism Industry Council executive director Simon Westaway said it was fair to say Qantas had taken the biggest hit in the pandemic because of inter­national border closures, which had left 7500 workers in limbo.

He said it was reasonable to think Qantas should get extra ­assistance in recognition of the impact of the government’s decision to keep borders closed. “We need to have a sustainable aviation sector — it’s going to help drive recovery,” Mr Westaway said.

Mr Joyce signalled that Qantas would come roaring back to life on the international scene once borders did reopen, with plans for ultra-long-range flights to be revisited by the end of the year.

He said it seemed likely the COVID crisis would only increase demand for flights.