Qantas posts record $1.53 billion full-year profit

BET you wish you worked for Qantas today. The airline just reported soaring profits - and 25,000 of its employees will be thousands of dollars richer.

QANTAS just had its best year ever.

The airline has reported a record full-year profit of $1.53 billion for the year ended June 30, up 57 per cent on the previous year and the best result in its 95-year history.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the result showed the transformation program was paying off. “Transformation has made us a more agile business, created value for our shareholders and given us a platform to invest for the future,” he said.

“Qantas is stronger than ever, but we’re also determined to keep changing and adapting so that we can succeed no matter what environment we’re in.”

Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, Jetstar and Qantas Loyalty all reported record results. Total underlying domestic earnings across Qantas and Jetstar increased $191 million to $820 million, while international earnings were up $374 million to $722 million.

The airline says it has made $1.66 billion in permanent cost and revenue savings since it began its transformation program in early 2014, and expects to realise $2.1 billion in benefits by June 2017.

Effective “fuel hedging” saved Qantas $664 million through lower global fuel prices compared with the previous financial year, with a proportion of the savings passed through to airfares. Qantas says its Australian ticket prices are up to 40 per cent lower than they were 10 years ago.

The group is rewarding 25,000 staff with a one-off $3000 bonus, and will return a further $500 million to shareholders.

Following a trial of high-speed in-flight Wi-Fi earlier this year, Qantas says it is now in the final stages of scoping options to extend it to regional and international fleets.

It’s also exploring a partnership with Cricket Australia to live-stream cricket on Wi-Fi enabled planes during the summer season.

The first flights on the eight Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners will open for sale before Christmas, with designers including Marc Newson and university sleep experts working on the interiors.

“We’ve renewed our aircraft, lounges, technology and the training we provide for our people, who’ve done a phenomenal job to earn record customer satisfaction,” Mr Joyce said.

“Today’s result means we can build on those investments, with some really exciting projects in the pipeline to make the experience of flying with Qantas even better. Our plans for the Qantas Dreamliner, in particular, will set new standards for the industry.”

Originally published as Qantas posts record $1.53 billion full-year profit