This was published 1 year ago
Updated ,first published
Regional Express (Rex) has grounded all flights between capital cities after entering voluntary administration following an emergency board meeting on Tuesday evening.
About 360 of 2000 Rex employees have been stood down so far, with more than 600 total jobs at risk if the airline is forced to ground its regional operations in addition to its major routes. Rivals Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia have committed to hiring as many affected Rex employees as possible.
Rex is responsible for flying about 5 per cent of domestic passengers, with the remaining 95 per cent absorbed by the duopoly of Qantas and Virgin. It has served Australia’s regional routes for 21 years and expanded to 11 major domestic routes including on the Golden Triangle between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane after COVID-19. Its most recent major domestic route, between Melbourne and Perth, was only launched last month.
The ASX-listed airline has been struggling…