Flight Centre warns that “timeframe for recovery is unclear” for COVID-19.
Flight Centre has just announced a range of strategies to combat the short-term challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Full year earnings guidance has been suspended, with the spread of the virus and the imposition of travel restrictions making it more difficult to predict the full year impact of the virus or a timeframe for recovery.
MD Graham Turner said there was significant softening in booking patterns, but in the near term Flight Centre would “proactively seek to win leisure market share by investing in sales and marketing, at a time when some of our competitors may be forced to pull back”.
However he also announced an acceleration of the company’s leisure network transformation plans, with up to 100 under-performing stores in Australia to close before 30 June and sales staff redeployed to fill existing vacancies in other shops nearby.
The company will expand flexible work arrangements to allow support and front-end sales staff to switch from full-time to part-time work, reduce trading hours in some shops, encourage staff to reduce leave balances, and impose a recruitment freeze.
Executive earnings will decrease, with no short-term incentives to be paid, and Flight Centre’s directors will forgo 30% of their fees for the remainder of the 2020 financial year.
Turner said the company would aim to increase its share of voice in the market, highlighting destinations currently considered to be lower risk including Australian domestic and South Pacific holidays.
More details in today’s issue of Travel Daily.