The John Holland group, a giant of the Australian engineering and construction landscape, is shedding hundreds of staff and looking to sell one of its main facilities.

The company has blamed “market conditions” for its decision to cut 150 airline maintenance jobs at the Melbourne Airport, with another 80 people to be sacked from broader operations in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide.

John Holland is also looking to offload its Tullamarine maintenance facility.

Unions, but not the company itself, say the decision was prompted by airlines choosing other international centres for their maintenance base.

In an interview over the weekend with the ABC, Victor Jose of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union placed the blame on the airlines.

“They've been trying to get some increased workload from some of the airlines but unfortunately the local airlines prefer to get the majority of the maintenance done on their aircraft overseas,” he said.

“So the reality is that the business wasn't sustainable with more and more work being taken away from their operations.”

John Holland said in an official statement that it will be “progressively winding back operations at its Melbourne base due to current market conditions and is investigating the possible sale of the Tullamarine facility.”

The decision “is consistent with the Leighton Group's strategy to stabilise, rebase and then grow, a key element of which is the recycling of capital from non-core assets,” John Holland Group managing director Glenn Palin said.

“After owning JHAS (John Holland Aviation Services) for seven years, we are focusing John Holland on our infrastructure, rail and specialist engineering capabilities,” Mr Palin said.