More than 50 Wyndham residents will lose their jobs when Qantas closes its heavy maintenance facility in Avalon next year.
The airline announced last week that the facility would close at the end of March.
Domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said Qantas’ decision to gradually retire its Boeing 747 fleet meant there would be insufficient work to keep the facility open.
“Over the next four years there would have been up to 22 months with no scheduled maintenance at Avalon,’’ he said. ‘‘No business could afford to continue operating a facility under those circumstances.
“After reviewing all of the options, the only realistic answer is to close Avalon and have the maintenance performed on our 747s at another facility.”
About 25 per cent of the facility’s 300 employees live in Wyndham.
More than 260 Avalon workers lost their jobs in November last year.
