Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson apologises after airline let down customers | Qantas

Publish date: 2024-10-30
Qantas This article is more than 3 months old

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson apologises after airline ‘let down’ customers

This article is more than 3 months old

New airline boss issues video statement, saying company needs to earn back trust of the public

The Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, has issued an apology to customers, promising to return the airline to its former esteem after a “humbling period”.

In a video statement released on Friday, the newly appointed boss committed to a review of customer policies to ensure they’re fair but asked for patience.

It comes as the Senate inquiry into the state of Australia’s airline industry held its second hearing in Perth on Friday, featuring the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, various airports and farmers groups.

Industry witnesses who have previously appeared at the inquiry have been scathing of Qantas, accusing the carrier of being “aggressive” to deal with and engaging in anti-competitive behaviour.

While Qantas officials, including Hudson and chairman Richard Goyder, have yet to accept their invitations to the hearing, committee chair Bridget McKenzie remains confident they will attend.

Where did it all go wrong for Qantas? – video

Hudson conceded in Friday’s public apology that Qantas hadn’t delivered in the way it should have and that its customer base had lost trust in the airline.

“I know that we have let you down in many ways,” Hudson said.

She said Qantas wanted to “get back to the national carrier that Australians can be proud of”.

That’s known for going above and beyond. We understand we need to earn your trust back, not with what we say but what we do and how we behave,” she said.

“This is going to take time and I ask for your patience. The work is already underway. We’re putting more people in our call centres to help solve problems faster. We’re adding more frequent flyer seats. We’re reviewing all of our customer policies to make sure they’re fair.

“And we’re giving our frontline teams more flexibility to better help you when things don’t go to plan. That’s only the start.”

The Canberra airport chief executive, Stephen Byron, told the inquiry on Friday that urgent changes were needed to rules governing how many flights an airline can cancel before it faces consequences.

Byron told the inquiry both major airlines, Qantas and Virgin, had engaged in anti-competitive behaviour by cancelling economically unviable flights in a strategy known as “slot hoarding”.

“Slot hoarding” is when airlines hold on to flight slots despite not necessarily intending to go ahead with the flights for economic reasons.

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Qantas an aggressive player with ‘strong presence’ in Canberra, Senate inquiry toldRead more

The practice prevents competitor airlines from applying for those empty slots, which has a flow-on effect for consumer prices.

Sydney airport’s existing rules allow airlines to cancel up to 20% of their flights in a slot per month without the consequence of losing it.

Byron said it should be lowered to 5% to allow for another third national carrier to enter the market and lower ticket prices.

“What really needs to happen is that some slots need to be set aside for a new entrant carrier, particularly at peak periods,” Byron said.

The ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said she saw slot reform at Sydney airport – a key recommendation of the former Coalition government-ordered Harris review - as the “greatest priority” but timing was a matter for the federal government.

It comes after Sydney airport’s chief executive, Geoff Culbert, told senators on Tuesday that Qantas was among the toughest industry players during negotiations, alluding to its influence in political circles.

Culbert also accused Qantas and its budget subsidiary, Jetstar, as being among the domestic airlines that had been engaging in “slot hoarding”.

Separately, the ACCC has accused Qantas of cancelling one in four flights during May and July 2022 to, among many reasons, retain slots.

Qantas has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Former Qantas chief Alan Joyce paid $21.4m for final full year in chargeRead more

This week it was revealed former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce had been paid $21.4m for his final full year in charge.

Joyce, who has also been invited to appear before the Senate inquiry, stepped down early from the top Qantas job amid a reputational crisis.

Goyder described the company’s annual performance as “positive in many respects” after posting its record profit of $2.47bn last month but he acknowledged its image had been damaged.

“The company is experiencing an acute loss of trust from the community, and accumulated disappointment from customers, which the board and management are determined to fix,” he said.

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