Labor leader Josh Willie has urged Premier Jeremy Rockliff to personally call Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson to fight the proposed closure of the airline’s Hobart pilot and cabin crew base.
The move comes as dozens of local aviation workers face an uncertain future, many having already relocated from other shuttered bases and made significant financial commitments in Tasmania.
“I’d like to see the premier pick up the phone today to the CEO of Qantas and say don’t make this decision,” Willie said.
The Hobart base closure is part of Qantas’s consolidation strategy, despite the company posting a $2.4 billion profit and receiving $2.7 billion in government pandemic assistance.
Paul Doughty from the Transport Workers Union, speaking on behalf of pilots who he said feared repercussions if they spoke publicly, warned employees “risk having their futures torn out from beneath them”.
“What we understand is there’s really minimal efficiencies that stand to be gained by this change by Qantas,” he said.
“In fact all of the cost of this change is going to be borne by the pilots and cabin crew who are standing behind me.”
Erin, the partner of an affected pilot, said her family learnt of the proposal while overseas.
“We found out via email so that kind of just took the shine off our holiday quite a bit,” she said.
Many workers had already been forced to move when Qantas closed its Cairns base in 2020, with some buying homes in Hobart as recently as November last year.
“We relocated our lives and we’re now living in Hobart, finally consider ourselves settled, made very significant financial decisions on this and now to find out that Hobart is possibly closing it’s devastating,” Erin said.
“These people and the families are not just numbers on a spreadsheet. We do exist and it does take a toll.”
Willie offered bipartisan support to the premier, pointing to Hobart Airport’s recent investment in the runway and terminal and its future growth potential.
The airport is currently in its busiest two-week period on record.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to support him so that these jobs can stay here in Tasmania,” Willie said.
The consultation period for the Hobart base closure remains open, with a final decision expected in the coming weeks.
Qantas has said Hobart is one of its smaller bases and that no final decision has been made.
