No frills for Gold Coast passengers and workers from today


31 July 2008


Gold Coast residents will no longer be able to access a full service domestic airline flight out of Coolangatta Airport after Qantas’ last flight to Sydney today at 12.15pm. 

28 workers have been made redundant as a result of Jetstar’s decision to split its ground handling contract between in-house and another Contractor, Oceania.  Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas, and was set up as a no-frills carrier to compete with other low-cost airlines such as Virgin Blue.

Previously, Qantas handled 14 flights per week out of Coolangatta and provided a full-service for its customers.  Australian Services Union Secretary Julie Bignell said “This is the last full service domestic flight for any airline out of Coolangatta for the foreseeable future. 

Gold Coast residents and tourists will have to lower their standards in line with the continuing trend of airlines slashing services and staff in order to maintain their profits.  It’s a sad day for the workers who have been forcibly retrenched, and it’s a sad day for passengers relying upon Coolangatta Airport for their air travel, because they now no longer have a choice.”

“Gold Coast residents seeking work in the sector will also have to lower their standards.  Jetstar and Oceania both pay less and cannot match the conditions of work previously offered by Qantas to workers in the industry.  If you want a better paying job in the airlines industry, you won’t find it on the Gold Coast, you’ll have to look to Brisbane.”

“Most of the retrenched workers have a long history of excellent service with Qantas, and they will very much miss providing this service to customers.  A few have managed to find work with other airlines at Coolangatta but the majority lose their jobs as of today. 

Some staff had over 20 years service to the company, but this doesn’t seem to mean a lot at the end of the day.  Staff have had difficulty planning their next steps because they won’t even get their final pay-out figures from the company until today.  They have clearly not been a priority during this process,” said Julie.

Some staff have to wait until 3 August 2008 to handle some Air New Zealand flights as part of a pre-existing contract.

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Authorised and published by Julie Bignell, Branch Secretary Australian Services Union Central and Southern Queensland Clerical and Administrative Branch, 29 Amelia Street, Fortitude Valley, Queensland, 4006
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