Qantas refuses to rule out more job cuts

Qantas will not rule out more job cuts in addition to the 480 positions that will go when it closes its heavy maintenance facility in Sydney.

Qantas will move the 747 maintenance facility to Geelong in May.

Qantas chief Geoff Dixon says 480 positions will be axed but with redeployments, the total number of job losses will be reduced to 340.

But he will not rule out further job cuts.

"We didn't offer any guarantees and we don't offer any guarantees," he said.

Mr Dixon maintains the job losses are unavoidable in the current climate, in which soaring oil prices and the airline's spiralling engineering costs have meant "something had to give".

"We are 15 to 20 per cent below and that's not the people's fault - this has changed almost in the last 18 months," he said.

But Doug Cameron, from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, says the airline could start by cutting executive pay packets.

"It's not good enough to have one rule for working people in this country and another rule for the six million-dollar chief executives."

Mr Cameron says even with the redeployments, 500 families will have their lives turned upside down.

- RADIO AUSTRALIA