Australia’s national carrier, Qantas Group, has announced record full-year underlying profits of $2.46bn, representing a dramatic financial turnaround for the country’s largest airline.
The result is the company’s first profitable result since FY2019 after it incurred more than $7bn of losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Qantas’s profit margins have been supported by surging demand for domestic and international flights, higher airfare prices and lower operating costs.
The full-year results to June 30 are more than $800m higher than the airline’s previous profits record in FY2018 when it posted an underlying profit before tax of $1.6bn.
But the sharp turnaround for the company has not been without controversy.
After outsourcing nearly 2000 baggage and ground handlers during the pandemic, Qantas was found by the Federal Court in December to have breached the Fair Work Act in an attempt to avoid future industrial action which the airline rejects.
Qantas is appealing this decision in the High Court.
On Monday, the airline was served a class action claim seeking millions of dollars in compensation for the Qantas customers who never received refunds for money or points that they spent on trips that were ultimately cancelled due to the pandemic. Qantas has denied the allegations.
Qantas has also faced strident criticism for it service, with flight disruptions, delays and cancellations, high ticket prices, lost baggage, and suggestions of widespread technical faults with its aircraft adding to its woes.
The 2022-23 profit result will be the last full-year reporting period with Mr Joyce at the helm, having led the airline for 15 years. His replacement, Qantas chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson, will assume the chief executive role from October.