With the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine and people around the globe getting vaccinated, the aviation industry is gearing up for what is hoped will be a surge in air travel demand.
- Qantas Airline began the coronavirus journey at 20 percent of pre-COVID capacity in the first quarter of 2020.
- Passenger demand is coming back although it is not there yet in full.
- The airline will be managing the business on a cash basis, meaning there is just enough to cover the operating costs of the operation and get our pilots, cabin crew, and staff back to work.
Read on – or sit back and listen – to hear about what the Chief Executive Officer of Qantas Airline, Alan Joyce, thinks about the current aviation situation.
Here, Peter Harbison, Chairman Emeritus of CAPA – Centre for Aviation, talks with Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO, on COVID and aviation in an unedited interview.
Peter Harbison:
Good afternoon and welcome, a very warm welcome to Alan Joyce who’s the CEO of Qantas, Qantas group. Welcome Alan, back to CAPA Live. Great to have you on.
Alan Joyce:
Good to talk to you again Peter as normal. It’s a pity we’re not doing it in person, but I’m assuming we’ll get back to a CAPA conference in person at some stage which will be great.
Peter:
Well, we’re planning on that very, very shortly. Yeah.
Alan Joyce:
Great.
Peter:
And I look forward to that. Thanks, Alan. A lot of things to talk about. Let’s kick off with the purely domestic scene if we could. We’ve had a lot of stop start. It must’ve been very frustrating for you. Do you think we’re getting any closer now to getting some domestic, i.e. state, interstate protocols in place for when we do close the borders down and notice periods, that sort of thing?
