‘Grounded’ airline staff plead for JobKeeper to survive coronavirus pandemic

The aviation industry is lagging behind the international recovery, triggering renewed cries for help.

Flight radar image from Monday morning shows a smattering of aircraft in Australia’s airspace compared with swarms of planes over North America and Europe. Picture: FlightRadar24

The Australian aviation industry is lagging behind the international recovery as a result of lockdowns and border closures, triggering renewed cries for ­assistance.

Analysis by Citi Research showed that globally, flying had recovered to about 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels but in Australia it was as low as 26 per cent.

The figure trailed all other countries included in the report, with the US in the lead on 88 per cent of pre-Covid flight levels, followed by Spain on 70 per cent, France and Brazil on 66 per cent and Italy 65 per cent.

China’s airlines were now operating at 55 per cent of pre-Covid capacity, and India was at 58 per cent.

Japan and South Korea were the only countries other than Australia to be under 50 per cent, at 47 per cent and 44 per cent ­respectively.

Flight radar images supported the analysis, showing just a smattering of aircraft in Australia’s airspace compared with swarms of planes over North America and Europe.

The data came as the Senate inquiry into the state of Australia’s aviation industry heard pleas for more government help from ground-handling workers, the tourism industry and pilots.

Already, more than $2bn has been paid to airlines in the form of JobKeeper, grants and “fees for services” such as international repatriation and freight flights.

The Australian Aviation Ground Handlers Alliance said without specific funding for below-the-wing workers, airlines would struggle to rebound quickly once borders opened.

Alliance chair Glenn Rutherford said it could take months to train up new workers in baggage handling and check-in if, as expected, many of the 9800 existing employees had left the industry for good.

“Most of our staff have sought secondary employment simply to pay bills and put food on the table,” Mr Rutherford said.

“When the country opens up and flying starts again, many of those staff may not come back.

“The amount of recruitment, training and accreditation is quite lengthy and for safety reasons we wouldn’t expect to employ new staff and have them on the job within four to six weeks.”

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots also said the industry risked losing many of its most highly skilled workers if their ­licences were allowed to lapse.

AFAP safety and technical manager Marcus Diamond said 1000 pilots had dropped out of their annual recurrency training because of the cost involved.

“It would cost (taxpayers) just $5m to $10m a year to keep them current, which if you look at the total value of the aviation industry is a minute amount,” he said.

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy Osmond told the inquiry tourism was unable to survive in Australia without aviation.

 

She said 610,000 jobs had been lost from the industry and another 150,000 were at risk if the government did not reactive JobKeeper for struggling operators.

“On our calculations, (JobKeeper) would cost about $280m a month over an enormous amount of workers, and that would ensure once demand returns, the businesses who make the industry what it is will be there,” Ms Osmond said.

“Loans are not an option. After last year, (businesses) all have huge debt burdens. It’s not ­realistic – it never was.”

The Australian Federation of Travel Agents chair Tom Manwaring said his members were better off in lockdown than out of it because of the Covid disaster payments.

“I can receive support for my staff from Centrelink (during lockdown). As soon as they lifted that lockdown, I got back into a 95 per cent loss,” he said.

The inquiry, chaired by Queensland senator Susan McDonald, is due to deliver its final report in October.