Jettisoned staff ‘disgusted’ | #AirAustralia | #Ausunions

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Darin Sullivan in Main

EMPLOYEES of failed budget airline Air Australia say they are “truly disgusted” after becoming jobless as well as stranded, along with thousands of passengers, in airports in Bali, Thailand and Hawaii.
About 300 staff were left without jobs when the airline went into administration on Friday morning.
One member of a flight crew in Honolulu said the crew was stranded until an operations staff member worked in his own time to secure return flights home.
Advertisement: Story continues below

A grounded Air Australia plane on the tarmac at Brisbane. Photo: AFP
“At this stage, none of the staff has had any correspondence of any nature from chief executive Michael James, or any other senior management for that matter,” the crew member said yesterday.
“We are all truly disgusted with this whole situation and feel very sorry for all the passengers.”
Melbourne-bound passengers such as Kai Tunley and his young family scrambled for flights home from Phuket and were forced to pay up to $3500 to fly via Singapore and Darwin, a trip taking more than 30 hours.
“My wife is six months pregnant and we have a four-year-old so it’s going to be challenging, but at least we will be getting home,” Mr Tunley said.