Balancing Act: Qantas reaps $1bn from taxpayers, but jobs, flights, fares all up in the air

Qantas and Virgin have enjoyed the lion’s share of COVID-19 related government handouts to companies – not unusual given the huge effect of the pandemic on the travel industry.

At the same time, however, they are charging exorbitant prices for international and domestic flights for Australians struggling to make it home for Christmas.

The Lion’s Share

As of October, the latest available figures, the Qantas Group collected $786 million in COVID-19 related government subsidies, including $446 million in JobKeeper payments.

Qantas and Virgin also received $715 million from an assistance package delivered in August to help the airlines maintain a minimum network of domestic flights.

Qantas was paid $47 million for maintaining a…