Qantas
CASE
5
Qantas in the global airline industry, March 2010
Dallas Hanson
Un¡versity of Tasmania i In mid-2009 Alan Joyce, chief executive officer (CEO) of
Australia's national air'1ine, had â rânge of difficult decisions to take. Qantas was at a crossroads, still profitable, but
'
I in the middle of a Ênancial crisis that posed a rhreat to
I the whole airline industr;z What akernatives should he
I contemplate and what should he do?
:
i
The history of Qantas
I
Early years
I
,
'
r
'
i
I
.
I
Qantas started rn l92O in Wiirton in outback Queensland as Queensland and Northern Tèrritory Aerial Services.r
Between 1926 and1928 it operated eight aircraft our of a hanger in outback Longreach. Ln7934 it merged rvith British firm Imperial Airways to form Qantas Empire Airways
(QEA). From 1935 it flew internationally to Singapore, and then briefly provided a service to Southampton in the UK. fhis stopped in 1942 with the fall of Singapore in World
War ll. After the war the company was narionalised under
Chifley's Labor government. Using an L749 Constellation airliner it began the four-day service ro London called the Kangaroo route and soon after began flying to South
Africa and then Norrh America. In 1954 it flew rhe Brirish
Queen Elizabeth and her husband ro Australia and rhe same year began flying twice weekly to San Francisco via
Fiji, Canton Island and Hawaii. By 1956 it had 34 propellerdriven aircraft and used them to carcy a record number of passengers to the ìvlelbourne Olympic Games. In the same year it entered rhe jet age, ordering seven Boeing 707-3IB jetliners at a cost of $38 million.
By now Qantas was estabiished as a world airline in 1958 this was demonstrated lirerally when two
Superconstellation aircraft took off on a round the world service. One flew via India and the orher via the USA.
They rook six days to circumnavigate the globe. Its fleet expanded rapidly and by 1964,13 of
5
Qantas in the global airline industry, March 2010
Dallas Hanson
Un¡versity of Tasmania i In mid-2009 Alan Joyce, chief executive officer (CEO) of
Australia's national air'1ine, had â rânge of difficult decisions to take. Qantas was at a crossroads, still profitable, but
'
I in the middle of a Ênancial crisis that posed a rhreat to
I the whole airline industr;z What akernatives should he
I contemplate and what should he do?
:
i
The history of Qantas
I
Early years
I
,
'
r
'
i
I
.
I
Qantas started rn l92O in Wiirton in outback Queensland as Queensland and Northern Tèrritory Aerial Services.r
Between 1926 and1928 it operated eight aircraft our of a hanger in outback Longreach. Ln7934 it merged rvith British firm Imperial Airways to form Qantas Empire Airways
(QEA). From 1935 it flew internationally to Singapore, and then briefly provided a service to Southampton in the UK. fhis stopped in 1942 with the fall of Singapore in World
War ll. After the war the company was narionalised under
Chifley's Labor government. Using an L749 Constellation airliner it began the four-day service ro London called the Kangaroo route and soon after began flying to South
Africa and then Norrh America. In 1954 it flew rhe Brirish
Queen Elizabeth and her husband ro Australia and rhe same year began flying twice weekly to San Francisco via
Fiji, Canton Island and Hawaii. By 1956 it had 34 propellerdriven aircraft and used them to carcy a record number of passengers to the ìvlelbourne Olympic Games. In the same year it entered rhe jet age, ordering seven Boeing 707-3IB jetliners at a cost of $38 million.
By now Qantas was estabiished as a world airline in 1958 this was demonstrated lirerally when two
Superconstellation aircraft took off on a round the world service. One flew via India and the orher via the USA.
They rook six days to circumnavigate the globe. Its fleet expanded rapidly and by 1964,13 of