Hong Kong, May 13 -- The Qantas Group said this week it planned to keep some 25,000 staff stood down until at least the end of June as demand for air travel remains suppressed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The new timeline, outlined by Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, in a market update on Tuesday, is a one-month extension to the group's announcement in March when it said the majority of employees would be stood down until at least the end of May.
Qantas said the stand down was "deeply regrettable", but its impact had been softened for employees eligible for an Australian government program that subsidised salaries to a maximum of A$1,500 (US$980) a fortnight.
Joyce said he was optimistic the Australian domestic market would start "retur...