Qantas Forecasts Record Second-Half Loss, Plans 1,750 Job Cuts

Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest carrier, forecast a record second-half loss and will cut 1,750 jobs as demand for business and first-class travel plunges on the global recession.

The job cuts, equivalent to about 5 percent of the workforce, are the deepest since Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce took over five months ago. Qantas became the latest carrier to defer delivery of the Airbus SAS A380, the world’s largest commercial plane, amid the recession and a drop in premium travel since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. last year.

Source: Bloomberg