Qantas plans to slash fares to win back passengers
Australia's Qantas Airways is to slash its fares in a bid to win back passenger confidence after grounding its entire fleet for 48 hours during an industrial dispute, it was reported.
Around 70,000 passengers were left stranded when the carrier grounded 108 planes to 22 destinations on Saturday, in a bid to squeeze trade unions threatening rolling strikes.
But the tactic hurt the Qantas brand, with many disrupted passengers vowing never to travel again with the airline and leaving it with a huge job to restore confidence as it prepares for the busy Christmas-New Year holiday season.
"Qantas will cut prices across its international and domestic network, offer grounded passengers special promotional deals, and take out one of the biggest national advertising campaigns in its 90-year history in a bid to win back disenchanted travellers in the lead-up to the peak Christmas period," the Australian Financial Review reported.
Australia’s largest airline, which claims to have lost A$68m ($72m) this year to industrial action, also plans to offer customers double the normal rate of frequent flyer points, the paper said.
The carrier’s aircraft returned to the skies on Monday as a result of a tribunal order to end the industrial action that gave both sides 21 days to reach a settlement.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, dubbed a "kamikaze" by a newspaper for effectively staging his own strike against the unions, had compared the ongoing labour disputes as "death by a thousand cuts" and warned the future of the 90 -year-old airline was at stake.
Gulf carriers said Sunday they had seen a rise in traffic on their Australia routes as passengers scrambled to find alternative seats.
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said it would be working closely with its partner carrier Virgin Australia to aid Qantas passengers stranded as a result of the strike action
"We are already looking at a range of options to support Virgin Australia in its home market by freeing up additional capacity if required,” said CEO James Hogan. “We also stand ready to assist Qantas passengers who are stranded overseas and need to travel home.”
Contingency plans included operating a shuttle service between Sydney and Melbourne on certain days of the week using Etihad aircraft, and operating a daily flight between Sydney and Bangkok.
Emirates, the largest international airline said Sunday it had not amended its flight schedule to Australia, but travel agents reported a jump in bookings on the carrier’s routes.
Basel Abu Alrub, managing partner of Dubai’s U-travel, said the agency had seen a rise in bookings on Emirates flights to Singapore, as travellers looked for alternative routes in and out of Australia, and on Cathay Pacific flights between the Gulf and Singapore.
Prices had remained stable as other carriers moved in to fill the gap left by Qantas, he said.
Etihad Airways CEO James Hogan said in August that the state-backed carrier hoped to capitalise on the void left by Qantas slashing routes on its international operations.
''They [Qantas] don't have the network they had of 15 years ago,'' Hogan said. “If they [Qantas] do dilute or marginalise their international flying that's a great opportunity for us … and we're happy to fill the gap.''
*With agencies