Virgin Australia has announced it is cutting 750 jobs after posting a full year loss of $349 million. The loss compares to a $681 million loss last year. It’s the seventh straight loss for the airline.
The underlying loss before tax was $71.2 million. The loss has been put down to rising fuel and foreign exchange costs and subdued trading conditions in the last half of the financial year. It predicts fuel costs to increase by $100 million in the next year.
Virgin Australia has hedged more than 90% of the forecast 2019-2020 financial year fuel consumption and extended hedging into 2021. It will also cut 750 corporate and head office jobs and merge the backrooms of Virgin Australia, Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, and Tigerair while maintaining the distinct brands. It will also review all routes and cut capacity,
Fleet renewal has already been put on hold due to the 737 Max issues. No new aircraft are expected until July 2021.
The only division that improved it’s revenue was the Velocity Frequent Flyer program.
Major shareholders in Virgin Australia are Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, HNA, and Nashan with approximately 20% each, with Virgin Holdings holding 10%.
All figures in Australian dollars. The Australian financial year runs July-June.