Qantas in trading halt pending ratings downgrade?
Qantas has asked the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to place its shares in an immediate trading halt. “The trading halt is requested pending receipt of information from Standard and Poor’s in relation to Qantas’s credit rating, which is likely to be materially price sensitive,” company secretary Taryn Morton wrote to the ASX. “Qantas requests that
Warren Truss, the minister responsible for the transport portfolio, and Prime Minister Tony Abbott have both used separate media engagements to hose down expectations that the federal government will provide financial support to Qantas. “The government isn’t a banker and there are no doubt lots of companies or private individuals that would like government to
Virgin tries to clear the fog on foreign ownership
Virgin Australia has issued a sharply worded statement disputing Qantas’s assertions that it benefits from having foreign government owned airlines as its major shareholders. “The proposition that Virgin Australia has access to cheaper capital by virtue of our shareholder base is completely false,” the statement reads, before noting that Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines
At the Dubai Airshow Qantas’s major alliance partner Emirates (one of those dastardly foreign government owned airlines) placed colossal orders for 150 Boeing 777Xs and 50 Airbus A380s. That presages yet more booming growth for Emirates. Fast-forward barely two weeks and Qantas is forecasting massive financial losses, 1,000 job cuts and another review of its
Qantas flags 1,000 job cuts as red ink starts to flow
An expected financial loss of $250-300 million for the first half of the current financial year is seeing Qantas slash “at least” 1,000 jobs among a range of other measures as it struggles to further cut costs in a deteriorating airline travel market. “We will do whatever we need to do to secure the Qantas
Jetstar flags Avalon withdrawal
Jetstar has flagged cutting operations to Avalon Airport, saying that flights to the Melbourne secondary airport have been “underperforming for some time”. “We are continuing to monitor the services of our Avalon routes and are yet to make a decision on the future of those services,” the airline said in a statement issued Thursday morning.
