Air New Zealand has been hit especially hard because it makes two-thirds of its earnings from international flying, which will remain shut off long after domestic travel has returned. That compares to one-third at Qantas.
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran says quarantine-free travel between Australia and New Zealand is unlikely to resume for at least another six months, bursting hopes of a proposed "trans-Tasman bubble" opening before March next year.
The airline has laid off 4100 of its 12,500 employees since February with another 385 cabin crew jobs on the chopping block. And after falling to its first financial loss since 2002 – $NZ454 million in the red – it is tapping into a $NZ900 million loan from the New Zealand government, which owns 52 per cent of its dual NZX- and ASX-listed shares.
Air New Zealand, with revenue of $NZ5.8 billion in 2019, is minuscule in comparison. But Foran says the job is not. "I’m learning a new industry... we’re dealing with the biggest crisis that’s ever hit that industry... and the government owns 52 per cent of the company," he says. "The combination of those things has made this as challenging as any role that I’ve ever had."
"In America... they’ve recently done a survey over there and only half the people said they’ll take the vaccine," he says. "And then of course we have reinfection rates." The Tasman is the busiest air route in and out of Australia, with Air New Zealand carrying just over a third of the 7.8 million passengers who made the hop last year, against fierce competition from Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia.
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