Qantas has been fined A$90 million ($59 million) for illegally laying off over 1,800 ground workers during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The judgement was given by an Australian court on August 18, 2025.
The penalty is in addition to the A$120 million ($78 million) in compensation that Qantas had agreed to pay to its former employees in December last year.
Australian Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said Qantas' outsourcing of baggage handlers and cleaners at Australian airports in late 2020 was the “largest and most significant contravention” of the protections found in the Fair Work Act 2009.
He said the fine would act as a deterrence to other employers to conduct similar actions.
In a statement, Qantas said the judgement “holds us all accountable” for actions that “caused real harm to our employees”.
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said: “We sincerely apologise to each and every one of the 1,820 ground handling employees and to their families who suffered as a result.”
Alan Joyce was the company's CEO at the time before retiring in 2023. Hudson had served as the company's CFO since 2019 before succeeding Joyce.
“The decision to outsource five years ago, particularly during such an uncertain time, caused genuine hardship for many of our former team and families,” continued Hudson.
She added that the company is working hard to change the way it operates and to “rebuild trust” with its workforce and customers.