Another blow for Qantas as High Court rejects appeal over illegal sackings

The public image of Qantas continues to take a beating, with the High Court ruling the airline acted illegally when it sacked around 1,700 workers during the pandemic and replaced them with third-party contract crews.

Qantas had previously appealed the findings of the Federal Court in the case brought by the Transport Workers Union. Those findings had been upheld by the full bench of the Federal Court, before Qantas appealed to the High Court. This final ruling will now see Qantas forced to pay a massive fine, and two years’ worth of legal costs for the TWU.