Good morning and welcome to the
On behalf of the Board, I wish to acknowledge the Whadjuk Noongar people, the traditional owners of the land I stand on here in
A lot of effort has gone in to making this virtual AGM format work. But, needless to say, it's not as good as all being in the same room.
It's also a symptom of the travel restrictions and border closures that continue to have a huge impact on the
Aviation is about bringing people together, and that's the one thing that the health response to COVID aims to avoid. As shareholders, you'll be well aware that our industry is among the hardest hit by what's happening.
That is one of several sources of optimism we have about the
on shortly.
But it's important to briefly reflect on recent events.
Broadly speaking, the sudden impact of the COVID crisis saw our strong profit from the first half of the year unwind very quickly, as travel demand evaporated. By late March, cascading domestic and international border closures made clear that most flying would have to cease. Revenue in the fourth quarter fell by
We were, quite frankly, in survival mode.
STRENGTHENING LIQUIDITY
Alan and the management team took immediate action to safeguard the future of the company. That meant putting most of our operations into hibernation to avoid burning through our available cash. And it meant developing a plan to recover from a crisis of unknown duration.
When you are managing a lot of unknowns like this, the key is liquidity and the ability to fund your operations.
Since March, we have raised over
As shareholders, it's important for you to know that few airlines have the access to the debt markets that
In addition to debt, we secured
ACKNOWLEDGING THE IMPACT OF DIFFICULT DECISIONS
Guaranteeing our survival has meant some very hard decisions. As already announced, more than 6,000 people will leave the business, with a review of another 2,000-plus roles in ground handling underway.
Around 18,000 of our people remain stood down.
The human impact of these actions deserves to be acknowledged. Many regard
Can I also say, these decisions are about putting the
PATH TO RECOVERY
Key to the recovery from this crisis - for
In July, we had a significant setback when other states closed their borders in response to
In the past month, we've seen some positive signs of a fresh recovery.
But even as numbers in
This inertia that doesn't seem to be based on the actual health risk. And that seems to ignore the broader economic and social risk involved with staying shut - especially as Federal income support winds down.
By contrast, the lifting of some restrictions with
Both
We're already doing this domestically - adding new destinations that suddenly make sense - and it's the kind of flexibility we need to make the most of any cash positive opportunities in the year ahead.
Of course, opening up our borders has to be done with care. That is certainly a focus for the
Safety is always our number one priority, and this now includes our Fly Well program, introduced back in May. It involves masks, increased sanitising and reduced contact points throughout the journey so that we protect our customers and our crew.
BOARD CHANGES
Turning to your Board.
Shortly, we will be asking you to vote on the re-election of three directors.
I want to acknowledge two long-serving directors who will retire before the next AGM.
We have no plans to appoint new directors in their place, meaning the Board will reduce by 20 per cent next year - from 10 members, to eight. We consider this appropriate under the circumstances when the company is scaling back at all levels.
CONCLUSION AND RECOGNISING THE ROLE OF THE NATIONAL CARRIER
One phrase I've heard a lot since joining the Board is that
At an operational level, we've seen over 100 repatriation missions to bring Australians home from COVID hotspots around the world. The latest one, from
At a management level, we've seen decisive action to handle a crisis that unfolded with incredible speed.
That has combined with years of careful management of the balance sheet and put your company in probably the best position of any major carrier in the world to recover.
Ultimately, the pace of that recovery is uncertain.
But we have a plan to guide us - guide us back to profit, back to growth and back to sharing the benefits of all that with our customers, shareholders and people. All the things we were doing before the pandemic struck. And we have a track record for delivering.
As your Chairman, I thank you for your ongoing support of the
I know that the Board joins me in thanking Alan and the Group Management Committee for their effort, passion and diligence this year.
I'll now invite Alan to say a few words.
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