QANTAS' future in Tamworth remains unclear, nearly two months after it cut 6000 jobs.
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The airline giant reported a $2 billion loss in the first half of the year, in what Qantas chief executive officer Alan Joyce described as the "toughest conditions" the company had every faced.
Despite lobbying, New England MP Barnaby Joyce said he was still uncertain how Tamworth would be impacted by the changes.
"I don't really know what it will mean for Tamworth at this stage because I'm not sure Qantas has finalised it themselves yet," Mr Joyce said.
"I'm certainly lobbying and doing what I can to ensure our region isn't impacted.
"However, to be quite frank, I imagine that is happening in pretty much every area."
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A Qantas spokesperson told the Leader there had not been any more job cuts made, however the potential impact June's lay offs could have was unknown.
Tamworth mayor Col Murray said the council would do all it could to help limit the turbulence locally.
"We still aren't sure what the long-term impacts on Tamworth will be, but in some positive news I know Qantas has reinstated their workshops at the airport," Cr Murray said.
"That's about 60 jobs, so that is really positive news for us.
"From my point of view, we just look forward to the time the flight schedule allows more opportunities for the business and leisure traveller."
Cr Murray said he had recent first-hand experience of the challenges facing the aviation industry at the moment.
"It's very difficult to line up flights at the moment to get to appointments in Sydney," he said.
"At the moment, it necessitates two nights accommodation to go to one meeting, so I have been driving down.
"There's so many external influences on when they can run flights, which has made it almost impossible because you're not sure if your flights will get moved."
Qantas has also announced international flights are unlikely to resume until July next year at the earliest.
However, Mr Joyce said he was confident those restrictions would not hamper the region.
"Tamworth and Armidale are basically feeder flights to the major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne," he said.
"Often that Sydney to Melbourne flight will be in the top three busiest flights in the world and regional centres like ours play a big role in that.
"For that reason, I'm confident they will continue to fly to places like Tamworth and Armidale."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
