Should Qantas CEO Alan Joyce repay Covid handouts after airline’s $2.47b profits?

Qantas’ CEO has announced staggering profits after pocketing billions during Covid – so should he now have to pay us back?

COMMENT

Qantas is going to hand out some extra frequent flyer points and have a fare sale after posting a massive profit.

Big deal.

How about handing back the $2.35 billion that taxpayers gave you to stay afloat during Covid?

The profit of $2.47 billion before tax eclipses the welfare we generously gave the national carrier and the post-tax amount of $1.74 billion is a record for the company.

These numbers would be no surprise to anyone who has flown recently.

Qantas fares have gone through the roof – up 38 per cent across the year when compared to 2019.

At the same time, service has gone to the dogs.

Stories of luggage being lost have spiked since Qantas outsourced its ground staff. A number of times in the past year I have been served drinks in plastic cups in the Qantas lounge – supposedly because the dishwasher was broken.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has received millions of dollars worth of bonuses in shares. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Christian Gilles

Cabin crew turned into mask police during Covid – more so than any other airline I flew.

Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and the Arts data earlier this year found Qantas had the second-highest rate of flight cancellations – behind only Jetstar, which it also owns.

Meanwhile, outgoing boss Alan Joyce has received millions of dollars worth of bonuses in shares.

I guess, under those circumstances, it isn’t too difficult to turn record profit. Joyce now says Qantas is in the best condition it has been for yonks.

But that’s only because we – the taxpayer – kept them alive during Covid to the tune of billions of dollars.

Qantas also owns Jetstar. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

Virgin Australia received only $160 million in subsidies to keep a small number of routes operating during the pandemic. Then they went into administration and had to be bailed out by an American investment firm.

But Joyce and Qantas continued on their merry way knowing that, as the national carrier, the federal government would never let them fall over, because it would be disastrous for the air travel market.

Qantas is essentially guaranteed to be underwritten by the government for that reason, which means it can operate however it likes and gouge consumers as much as it likes with no consequence.

Joyce should begin paying back that $2.35 billion we gave him.

It did its job. It kept the airline afloat and prevented a monopoly in the market. And now it’s time to show Australians some gratitude.

‘It’s time to show Australians some gratitude’. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Jeremy Piper

We scratched your back, now you scratch ours. The consumer has effectively been charged twice by Qantas – first through their taxes to save the business and then through high fares for second-rate service.

They can even afford to fly around Yes campaigners for the Voice to Parliament for free – but they can’t cut us some slack.

We’re being swindled. If Qantas won’t pay our money back, then the federal government ought to demand they cut fares.

But the government appears to be running a protection racket for Qantas, recently knocking back a modest request from Qatar Airways for 21 new services in Australia because it wouldn’t be in the “national interest”.

Extra international services that would help reduce fares wouldn’t be in the national interest?

Qantas calls itself the spirit of Australia. If this kind of behaviour is our spirit, then no wonder we’re in trouble.

They survived on our money. We deserve better.

Caleb Bond is co-host of The Late Debate on Sky News Australia and a News Corp columnist