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Qantas has suffered a 13 per cent profit drop as the flying kangaroo airline made less money from flights.
The bad news was the first results presentation for Vanessa Hudson since she replaced her embattled predecessor Alan Joyce as chief executive in September last year.
‘We know that millions of Australians rely on us and we’ve heard their feedback loud and clear,’ she told shareholders on Thursday.
‘There’s a lot of work happening to lift our service levels and the early signs are really positive.’
In the six months to December, Qantas made a $1.25billion underlying profit before tax, down $180million or 12.6 per cent from $1.43billion figure for the same period in 2022.
Qantas has announced its underlying profit dropped 13 per cent in the first half as fares fell.
This period covered the failed Voice referendum in October, which saw Mr Joyce provide free flights to Yes campaigners and decorate Qantas planes with the Yes logo.
But Mr Joyce resigned in September, bringing forward his retirement by two months, ending his 15-year run in charge of Australia’s national carrier.
In an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Thursday morning, Qantas revealed lower fares reduced revenue per available seat kilometre, reducing profit by $600million as freight yields fell by $146million.
But increased flying volumes boosted profit by $485million.
Total flying increased by 25 per cent on an available seat kilometre basis and the Qantas Group carried 3.3million more passengers when July to December 2023 was compared with July to December 2022.
‘Travel demand remains strong across all sectors, with leisure continuing to lead and business travel now approaching pre-Covid levels,’ Qantas said.
The bad news was the first results presentation for Vanessa Hudson since she replaced her embattled predecessor Alan Joyce as chief executive in September last year
Ms Hudson also suggested the worst of the cost of living crisis had passed since inflation hit a 32-year high of 7.8 per cent in late 2022.
‘We understand the need for affordable air travel and fares have fallen more than 10 per cent since peaking in late 2022,’ she said.
‘At the same time, we’ve seen a cost benefit from fewer cancellations and delays, and scale benefits as more international flying returns.’
This period covered the failed Voice referendum in October, which saw former chief executive Joyce (pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese) provide free flights to Yes campaigners and decorate Qantas planes with the Yes logo
