A judge on Monday fined Qantas Airways $59 million for illegally firing more than 1,800 ground staff at the start of the covid-19 pandemic. The penalty is in addition to the $78 million in compensation that Australia's biggest airline had already agreed to pay its former employees.

A court ordered Australia’s largest airline, Qantas Airways, on Monday to pay a record fine of A$90 million ($58.64 million) for illegally sacking 1,800 ground staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and criticized it for a lack of contrition.

Qantas is being warned it risks losing its place in the national psyche after its latest indiscretion: a $90 million fine for the illegal sacking of workers.

Federal Court judge Michael Lee’s frustration at the way Qantas defended an unlawful outsourcing case has boiled over in his final judgment, which imposed a record $90m fine against the airline, $50m of which will be paid to the Transport Workers Union.

The airline says it was not an official order and an employee has been told never to make the same mistake again.

Un juez multó el lunes a Qantas Airways con 90 millones de dólares australianos (59 millones de dólares) por despedir ilegalmente a más de

The weekly 737 flights, which depart Brisbane on Saturdays and return from Koror on Sundays, began in December last year, with Qantas taking over from Nauru Airlines under contract with the Australian Government.

Qantas has been ordered to pay a $90 million penalty for illegally sacking more than 1800 workers, marking the final chapter in a saga that began in 2020.