Resume writers and job placement agencies across Australia are under the pump as the bad news keeps coming.

Virgin Australia will sack 3,000 people over the next month – about one third of its workforce.

More than 300 Virgin staff live in Adelaide.

Virgin will also close the Tiger Australia brand, although said it would retain the air operator’s certificate so it could revive the low-cost carrier, if domestic holiday travel market recovered.

Virgin will strip its fleet back to the Boeing 737s for domestic and international short-haul flights, and its Fokker 100s and Airbus A320s, for regional and charter services.

Its long-haul Boeing 777s and Airbus A330s, Tigerair’s A320 and regional ATR turboprops will all go.

Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah said the airline had no choice but to shrink to survive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Demand for domestic and short-haul international travel is likely to take at least three years to return to pre-COVID-19 levels, with the real chance it could be longer.

“That means as a business we must make changes to ensure the Virgin Australia Group is successful in this new world,” he said in a statement.