In a worrying update about the future of Regional Express Airlines (Rex), the airline has placed a halt on trading on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) “pending it releasing an announcement”.
The carrier has not provided more information than this in its ASX message.
“Unless ASX decides otherwise, the securities will remain in trading halt until the earlier of the commencement of normal trading on Wednesday, 31 July 2024 or when the announcement is released to the market,” Rex stated.
A trading halt often foreshadows major news and doesn’t mean Rex has stopped flying. However, all is not right at the airline.
Earlier this year, Rex announced that its network reductions, which were put in place at various points in 2023, would go on until at least 27 October 2024.
More recently, it was revealed Rex’s largest shareholder, Singaporean businessman Lim Kim Hai, wanted to replace the entire board a month after being ousted as the company’s executive chairman.
Then on Friday, The Australian reported the appointment of Deloitte “turnaround” experts to save Rex from going under.
In a pre-emptive move, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) has promised to work with Deloitte administrators to save the airline from going the way of Bonza, which went into liquidation less than a month ago.
It has also renewed its call for a Safe and Secure Skies Commission for an aviation industry caught in a “cycle of crises”. With the trading halt, TWU says 2,000 more aviation jobs are at risk.
“Like Bonza, Rex was another airline attempting to do right by the Australian public, keeping regional communities connected and driving down fares on popular routes,” TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said.
“Following complaints against Qantas of capacity dumping, slot hoarding and a bidding war in regional Australia, Rex has now become another victim of an unregulated aviation market.
“The TWU worked with Deloitte to get Virgin Australia back in the air and will work just as hard with them again to try to rescue Rex Airlines.”
Kaine emphasised that “healthy competition is the only remedy for an industry in crisis” despite a recent claim by Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson that there’s not enough room for competition in the domestic airline market.
“Aviation has suffered the colossal loss of skill and experience with thousands of staff gone and good, secure jobs diminished,” he stated.
“Workers, passengers and smaller, regional carriers have shouldered the burden of aggressive competition, the systematic degradation of pay and conditions under Alan Joyce, and the lack of a market stabiliser.
“We need a Safe and Secure Skies Commission to ensure the needs of the community are met by a strong, stable aviation industry.”
Last month, Rex announced a change of leadership, with Neville Howell named the new CEO of the airline.
In May, the carrier launched a new service between Adelaide and Perth, just days after announcing a five-day-a-week Melbourne to Perth route.
