Canberra (dpa) - Australian flagship carrier Qantas and its budget airline Jetstar will cut their international flights by 90 per cent until at least the end of May due to a drop in demand for travel amid the global coronavirus crisis.
The reduction "largely reflects the demand impact of severe quarantine requirements on people's ability to travel overseas," Qantas said in a statement on Tuesday. Some 60 per cent of domestic flights will also be slashed.
The move will see around 150 aircraft grounded, Qantas said.
The Australian government announced a mandatory 14-day self-isolation regime for all arrivals into the country on Sunday.
Last week, Qantas had announced a global flights reduction by 23 per cent for the fourth quarter of the financial year ending in June.
Qantas also flagged that the "precipitous decline in demand" and resulting cuts meant it was confronted with a significant labour surplus across its operations.
The airline said it will manage this using paid and unpaid leave, and had already announced its chief executive and chairman would forego pay for three months, and other executives would take pay cuts.
The decision by Qantas came after several global airlines, including Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and British Airways, announced huge reductions in their flight numbers due to plummeting demand over the coronavirus.
It comes as the already strained US plane-maker Boeing is facing new struggles in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, according to US media.
A Wall Street Journal report on Monday said health authorities will need to decide whether production can go ahead at Boeing, after a number of employees became infected with the virus.
According to an internal document, 11 employees tested positive for the virus and another 339 employees are in quarantine with suspected coronavirus, the paper said.
Another 87 employees were in quarantine, but have already returned to work, it said.
According to a Bloomberg report on Monday, Boeing is seeking US aid and support for itself, its suppliers and some airlines due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Unnamed insiders told Bloomberg that the plane-maker is trying to avert lay-offs and damage to smaller businesses that manufacture parts for its planes. Boeing would not comment on the report.
Boeing stocks tumbled by 24 per cent on the stock exchange on Monday, putting further pressure on the company.
Additionally, the company has been hit by the grounding of its best-selling 737 MAX that is waiting for clearance to resume services after two deadly crashes.
Boeing has been in crisis after the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people last year and led authorities around the world to ground the model last March.
The fallout led Boeing to halt production of the plane in January. The embattled manufacturer expects the 737 MAX series to be approved by regulators and allowed to fly again in mid-2020.
On Monday, Oneworld, SkyTeam and Star Alliance, the three major airline alliances that represent almost 60 carriers and more than half of the global market, called on the governments to come to the rescue with "all possible means" to aid the aviation sector during the coronavirus crisis.
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