Flight path to recovery needs a national framework

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has taken a swipe at Queensland’s latest border restriction after axing more than a third of all flights.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is the first guest of Kerry O'Brien in his new series in partnership with Griffith University. Picture: Russell Shakespeare

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called for a national COVID framework to guide the closing and reopening of state borders after being forced to axe a third of all flights, in response to the latest restrictions on Sydney residents travelling to Queensland.

The ban on people from Greater Sydney, taking effect on Saturday, came after fewer than 20 new cases of COVID-19 a day were recorded in NSW.

Speaking to veteran interviewer Kerry O’Brien as part of a new Griffith University conversation series, Mr Joyce said the change had meant the axing of a third of all Qantas flights.

“What we’d like to see is real certainty over what’s going to happen with borders and different approaches being taken by different states,” he said.

“The principle we all agree on is that health has to be the top priority but the medical experts have said it’s not elimination we’re after, it’s suppression.”

He said there should be a set figure of cases that triggered a border closure, rather than kneejerk responses.

After planning to have 45 per cent of domestic capacity back in the market by late July, Qantas was now set to have about 20 per cent of flights operating, compared with pre-COVID levels.

Mr Joyce conceded the “huge amount of uncertainty” surrounding the COVID pandemic was making a quick recovery more challenging, but remained hopeful of resuming international services from July next year.

The long-serving CEO, who has just committed to another three years with Qantas, also revealed he was banking on Virgin Australia returning from administration as a budget carrier.

“They’re likely to move back down-market to where Virgin Blue was,” Mr Joyce said.

“That will give Qantas more opportunities. We’re already finding in places like Hamilton Island and Maroochydore, the dynamic has changed, and I think it will change even more when Virgin comes out of administration.”

He lamented the devastating impact of the pandemic on people in the Qantas workforce, and said the emotion over the early retirement of Boeing 747s was “heartbreaking for all of us”.

Asked what he would tell aviation students seeking a career in an industry devastated by COVID-19, Mr Joyce replied “get used to having a crisis every seven years because that’s what occurs”.

“It’s a great career to have, it does go through boom and bust and at Qantas we’ve been trying to take the boom and bust out and diversify the business.

“There’s still huge growth forecast in aviation. Worldwide there’s a need for 900,000 new pilots in the next 30 years.

“(Before COVID) we were recruiting people, we were growing wages above inflation and giving bonuses on top of that. You do what you can do within your control if you’re a good company like Qantas. I haven’t taken a salary in four months now.”