QantasLink have announced today they are abandoning the Tamworth heavy maintenance facility, leading to significant local job losses, and devastating the community.

This decision has come at a complete shock and leaves 51 families in Tamworth with an extremely uncertain future which is a bitter pill to swallow after years of dedicated, loyal service.

Today, the lives of workers and their families in the Tamworth hangar have been thrown into turmoil.

The Tamworth airport heavy maintenance hangar has been home to dedicated, highly skilled engineers and maintenance workers with decades of experience and service to QantasLink.

We want to keep those skilled workers and their families in Tamworth. They should not be forced to move elsewhere to keep their jobs.

Of the 51 families, there are 41 employees and 10 contractors who are facing the prospect of unemployment due to this decision in very difficult economic times.

I have spoken to the CEO of QantasLink and called on them to immediately reverse the decision and work with the local community to look at ways to include Tamworth in the maintenance program for any new aircraft in their fleet.

Tamworth needs a growing aviation industry, not a shrinking one, and it’s bitterly disappointing that QantasLink have made the harsh decision to pull services away from our region.

They need to reverse this decision and save our local jobs.