Qantas to cut 1,500 workers

Qantas Airways, Australia’s largest airline, will cut 1,500 jobs worldwide to cope with an almost doubling of fuel prices in the last year.

The carrier will trim about 4% of its workforce and canceled plans to hire 1,200 workers, it said today.

It also will ground as many as 22 aircraft.

Qantas follows AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc. and SAS Group’s Scandinavian Airlines in eliminating workers as record fuel prices erode earnings.

Industrywide losses may total more than $6.1 billion this year, the worst since 2003, the International Air Transport Assn. said.