SYDNEY (Reuters) -Qantas Airways, Australia’s largest airline, has been fined A$90 million ($58.64 million) for illegally sacking 1,800 ground staff and replacing them with contractors during the COVID-19 pandemic, a court ruled on Monday. In imposing a penalty close to the maximum available for breaching Australia's workplace laws, Federal Court of Australia Judge Michael Lee said it was to ensure it “could not be perceived as anything like the cost of doing business”. He said A$50 million of the penalty would be paid to the Transport Workers' Union, which brought the case on behalf of the 1,820 staff fired by Qantas during the pandemic.