Qantas International flying high but pockets of ill will remain

Qantas International has turned around its fortunes, but fixing the culture has not yet been fully achieved.

Gareth Evans says Qantas is increasing capacity in the short term to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

Lower costs, higher revenues and increased productivity helped turn around the fortunes of Qantas International, but fixing the culture of the organisation has not yet been fully achieved, according to the head of the airline’s international business.

Qantas International reported a $270 million profit in the first half of the 2015 financial year, up from the almost $500m loss the airline reported during the 2014 financial year.

Addressing the Helloworld business conference in Singapore recently, Qantas international and freight chief executive Gareth Evans said there were still pockets of disengagement among staff, although a record number of employees supported the airline’s strategy.

“(But) as with all big companies, there will always be a small number of staff who are not fully engaged,” Mr Evans said.

“As a business, we continue to really focus hard on building a culture of collaboration. ­Diverse views lead to better decisions and greater innovation. We have put 18,000 staff through leadership training — every single one of our staff are leaders.”

Mr Evans said financial improvements had been made by working the fleet 20 per cent harder than in 2012.

“In the past, we had too much fat in the system. We have added new routes and new frequencies without adding to our fleet. (But) Qantas will never have a network the same as hub carriers like Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines because of our ­geography.”

However, 43 per cent of the Qantas Group, including Jetstar, fly to Asia with 30 services a day into Singapore, Mr Evans said. He said the Asia-Pacific was a key growth area: Qantas expected 2.9 billion passengers by 2034 compared with 1.1 billion passengers today.

The airline is increasing capacity in the short term to Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan.

“But we are also taking a long-term view. Our new partnership with China Eastern can become our biggest alliance over time,” Mr Evans said. “We are going to focus on where the demand is.’’

Qantas has struck partnerships with American Airlines and China Eastern to give it access to the world’s two largest economies as Emirates gives it the best network into Europe.

Lisa Allen travelled to Singapore as a guest of Helloworld.