Flight Centre could leave 14,000 staff stood down for YEARS as the travel industry battles to survive amid the coronavirus pandemic
Thousands of Flight Centre staff members stood down due to the coronavirus pandemic could be without work for years as the travel industry braces for a second wave of infections.
The Queensland-based travel agent was forced to cut 70 per cent of its workforce following the closure of international borders and bans on domestic travel.
Their active workforce dropped from 20,000 to just 6,000 and Managing Director Graham Turner admitted it will be ‘a long road ahead’, The Courier-Mail reported.
‘We’ve lost about 14,000 people, stood down,’ he said.
The Queensland-based travel agent was forced to cut 70 per cent of its workforce due to the coronavirus pandemic (stock image)
While some workers will likely return over the next six months, Mr Turner said it would be ‘nowhere near those 14,000’.
‘We’ve got a little bit of business coming back … but it will depend entirely on the government directives,’ he said.
‘It’s a bit hard to predict, but we want to bring back quite a few people when the demand is there.’
Mr Turner thinks travel will almost be back to normal by the beginning of the 2023 financial year.
He is hopeful Flight Centre will return to 70 per cent of former travel levels in and out of Australia within a couple of years.
Flight Centre’s domestic bookings increased following the announcement Queensland would open their borders.
More to come