Qantas to shut base as 747 fleet is scaled back
Qantas has blamed the gradual retirement of its 747 fleet as the reason behind a decision to shut its Avalon heavy maintenance base at the end of March next year.
The closure, announced this morning, will see the loss of 53 permanent jobs and 246 contractors.
Qantas said there was simply not enough work at Avalon to make the base viable or productive.
The carrier said its 747 fleet has fallen from 36 in 2004 to 15 today, with that number expected to fall to 10 in three years.
“Over the next four years there would have been up to 22 months with no scheduled maintenance at Avalon,” Qantas Domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said. “No business could afford to continue operating a facility under those circumstances.
“After reviewing all of the options, the only realistic answer is to close Avalon and have the maintenance performed on our 747s at another facility.”
He said no decision has been made over where future 747 engineering work would be carried out, with local bases and offshore locations in Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, UK and US all under consideration.
Qantas said its Brisbane heavy maintenance base would remain operational with line maintenance continuing at 19 ports around Australia, including Melbourne.
Strambi said unions had suggested some employees could take up to three months leave without pay in a bid to keep Avalon open.
But that “wouldn’t have come close” to addressing the lack of work, he said.
“This decision in no way reflects on our employees at Avalon, it simply reflects the structural changes to our fleet that means long periods of no heavy maintenance work,” Strambi said.
Qantas also flagged that further changes to its engineering operations are likely as its fleet gets younger. Newer, modern aircraft need up to half the maintenance of older equipment, Strambi said.
Closure of the Avalon base will cost Qantas $28 million in the 2014 financial year.
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