Hundreds of Bonza airline staff have learnt their fate, as the airline officially terminates their employment.
The troubled budget airline suspended all its flights and entered voluntary administration in April, with aircraft seized and repossessed little more than a year after its planes first took off.
The Transport Workers Union (TWU) said Virgin Australia had committed to prioritising job opportunities for Bonza employees, with the union saying it was ready to support workers with a Fair Entitlements Guarantee process.
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As Bonza remains in voluntary administration, employees have not yet been given access to entitlements for unpaid wages from the federal government and will not receive them until the airline goes into liquidation.
“This is incredibly difficult news for Bonza employees who have received no pay for more than two months after the airline’s sudden collapse,” TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said.
“It’s a dark day for regional communities across Australia, which remain isolated through unaffordable or unavailable air travel to remain connected with the nation.”
Kaine said the aviation industry had been decimated in recent years, and it was also “highly likely” it would lose hundreds more “skilled, experienced staff after being burnt so many times in this industry”.