SYDNEY, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Virgin Australia Group are set to axe hundreds of jobs after reporting a full-year profit loss to the Australian Securities Exchange on Wednesday.
Despite an increase of 7.5 percent in revenue which totalled 5.827 billion Australian (3.96 billion U.S. dollars) dollars over the past 12 months, the airline reported a net loss of 349.1 million Australian dollars (235.50 million U.S. dollars) for 2019 financial year.
Plagued by a number of issues, Virgin Australia Chief Executive and Managing Director Paul Scurrah said the business needed to make some tough decisions.
"There is no doubt that we are operating in a tough economic climate with high fuel, a low Australian dollar, and subdued trading conditions," he said.
"However, today's results show that we must improve our financial performance.
"While we have continued to grow revenue and have a strong loyal customer base, we need to make changes to our costs to ensure we see financial benefit from the growth in our business."
Expected to save the airline around 75 million Australian dollars (50.6 million U.S. dollars) per year, the job cuts will be "largely focussed on corporate and head office positions".
"Decisions which have a direct impact on people's livelihoods are never made lightly," Scurrah explained.
"However if we are to position the business for the future, create new opportunities, improve competitiveness, and continue to deliver for our customers, we need to make tough but important decisions that are in the long-term interests of the Group."
While trading conditions remained difficult over the past 12 months, another issue facing the carrier was its order of 38 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft which was cut to 23 and deferred until 2025 over safety concerns.
"It's important to note that we have already addressed a number of other business priorities including the restructure of Boeing 737 MAX order, which deferred a significant amount of capital expenditure," Scurrah said.
