Most employees stood down, won't be receiving wages for April, union says
The administrators handling Australian airline Bonza are being urged to prioritise employees after the organisation went into voluntary administration this week.
The Transport Workers Unions (TWU) told the administrators to "explore every avenue" to pay workers their wages as soon as possible.
"Bonza's administrators must strain every sinew to find the means to pay these workers urgently. There is no greater priority than this," said TWU National Assistant Secretary Emily McMillan in a statement.
Bonza went into voluntary administration on April 30, abruptly cancelling all its flights and standing down a majority of employees.
According to the TWU, affected staff were stood down without pay and were told that the work they did for all April will not be paid for.
"It's appalling that Bonza has failed workers so spectacularly and that aviation workers are once again paying the price for a broken industry," McMillan said.
"These are hardworking people with bills to pay and families to feed. They are highly trained. This is a devastating blow and a cause for great worry in a cost-of-living crisis."
The TWU said Bonza workers can sign up on their website while the union seeks answers from Bonza's administrators, Hall Chadwick.
No alternative but to stand down staff
In a previous statement, Hall Chadwick said they had "no alternative but to stand down the majority of the employees" of Bonza.
"The Administrators appreciate this is not the news that the employees, customers, and other key stakeholders would like to hear however there is no alternative course of action available to the Administrators at this point in time," Hall Chadwick said in a statement.
The administrators said the company's current financial position cannot be made public as it remains financially sensitive and subject to ongoing investigation.
However, it said airline cannot recommence full operations as there is "insufficient cashflow and funding."
Bonza's entrance to voluntary administration came a little over a year after it started operations on January 31, 2023.
