(Oct 21): Qantas Airways Ltd faces a multi-million dollar payout to almost 1,700 ground workers illegally fired during the pandemic after a court put the combined compensation for three test-case workers at A$170,000 (US$114,000 or RM490,825).

Monday’s Federal Court ruling, which set non-economic losses in the cases at A$30,000, A$40,000 and A$100,000, provides the basis for calculating the other payments. Mediation will now start and the airline said it’s trying to accelerate the compensation process with the help of the Transport Workers’ Union.

Qantas hasn’t disclosed the size of its provision against the claims, but in August it said it had set aside an extra A$70 million to cover compensation and any court-determined penalties. If Monday’s test-case totals were evenly replicated across 1,700 workers, total compensation would be almost A$100 million.

Resolving the case is a key part of Qantas’ rehabilitation under chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson. She replaced Alan Joyce in late 2023 after a string of corporate scandals and misdeeds, including the unlawful sackings.

Qantas shares rose as much as 1.8% before trading up 0.3% at A$7.39 at 1.27pm. The stock is up almost 38% this year.

“We sincerely apologise to our former employees who were impacted,” Hudson said in a statement. “We know that the onus is on Qantas to learn from this.”

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