Source: Radio Australia Author: 07/22/2008
Subject Concerned: Opinion Airlines Human Resource
The head of Australia's biggest airline, Qantas, has predicted that 100,000 aviation industry jobs will be cut across the world by the end of this year.
Geoff Dixon says high oil prices will be the main reason for a reshaping of the industry.
He says many airlines will close and major new global airlines will be created, as a result of mergers and takeovers.
"Right now, airlines around the world are cutting routes and capacity, grounding and retiring aircraft and unfortunately shedding staff," he said.
"It's likely that 100,000 jobs will be lost before the calendar year is out.
"In the last six months alone 24 airlines have gone or closed completely."
Last week, Qantas announced it was cutting 1,500 jobs from across its operations, blaming higher oil prices and a slowdown in the domestic airline sector.
It also warned further cuts could not be ruled out.