Qantas CEO, Venessa Hudson, has apologised for illegally outsourcing ground handling jobs during COVID and confirmed that the airline will be paying the A$90 million.
The penalty was handed down by Federal Court Justice Michael Lee, who said the penalty must “bear some resemblance” to the maximum A$121 million and should be no less than A$90 million.
Lee also said A$50 million should be paid to the Transport Workers Union (TWU). How the remaining A$40 million will be paid will be declared at a later hearing.
The TWU called for the airline to be fined the maximum A$121 million; however, Qantas argued that the court instead imposed a penalty between A$40 million and A$80 million.
Hudson, who became CEO in September 2023 after former CEO Alan Joyce stepped down, apologised to the 1,820 employees who lost their jobs following the decision to illegally outsource them.
She said the impact was felt not only by those who lost their jobs also by the company’s entire workforce.
“The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and their families,” she said.
“Over the past 18 months, we’ve worked hard to change the way we operate as part of our efforts to rebuild trust with our people and our customers. This remains our highest priority as we work to earn back the trust we lost.”
Qantas’ chief people officer, Catherine Walsh, also apologised during the court hearings.
According to the ASX release, Qantas also paid A$120 million into the compensation fund for all affected employees, which is being administered by Maurice Blackburn.
At the time of writing, Qantas (ASX: QAN) stocks were down 0.086% to A$11.62. The company’s market cap is A$17.56 billion.
