Pressure mounts on Qantas over boarding veterans

Qantas has come under political pressure to follow Virgin and allow ADF veterans to board planes at the front of the queue.

Qantas is under pressure to follow Virgin and give priority boarding to ADF veterans.

Qantas has come under political pressure to follow Virgin and allow Australia’s Defence veterans to board planes at the front of the queue and be acknowledged for their service, as the new initiatives divide key Coalition ministers.

The Morrison government will work with Virgin to finetune the proposal after announcing an Australian veterans’ card and lapel pin to more easily recognise and respect their “unique contribution”.

The Australian understands veterans could be given priority boarding and Virgin staff could inform passengers before takeoff of their presence on the plane.

Defence Industry Minister Steven Ciobo said he’d like to see Qantas follow suit.

“It’d be terrific,” Mr Ciobo told Sky News.

“I congratulate (Virgin Australia CEO) John Borghetti and the management team at Virgin. I think it’s tremendous they come on board and that they honour and salute the service of men and women who have served our nation in uniform, putting themselves in harm’s way, I think that’s terrific.

“If we can get though not just airlines but if we can do this across the board I think that’s part of reinforcing respect in the Australian community for these men and women … Let’s be honest it’s not just them, it’s also the incredible toll that it has on their families as well, that we should acknowledge that, we should expect that.”

Veterans’ Affairs Minister Darren Chester said some veterans would want to stay under the radar and instead prefer a discount on their airfares.

The Weekend Australian understands the initiatives are open to consultation and it may be that only the priority boarding is adopted.

“As we do our consultation with the ex-service organisations we’ll get a better idea of what exactly they would like to see in that regard,” Mr Chester told the ABC.

“Australians by nature tend to keep their light under a bushel. Some of our veterans would be quite happy to get on the plane without anyone knowing they are there.”

The Virgin initiative caps off a week in which the Morrison government unveiled the veterans’ card and announced a $500 million upgrade to the Australian War Memorial.