Almost 1,700 illegally sacked Qantas workers would have been retrenched following year, court hears

Former chief executive says there would have been strong commercial reasons in ‘the context of the pandemic’ for choosing to outsource the roles

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Legal proceedings to determine compensation for almost 1,700 workers illegally sacked by Qantas have heard the airline would have still outsourced the jobs the following year due to financial targets and Australia’s tight Covid restrictions.

Compensation hearings continued on Wednesday to resolve the years-long legal battle between the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Qantas over its decision to outsource jobs across 10 airports in late 2020. The federal court found the move to be illegal because it acted against protections in the Fair Work Act, and was in part driven by a desire to avoid industrial action.

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