Qantas accused of ‘ripping off’ customers after posting record $1.4bn half-year profit

theguardian.com:

Qantas has delivered a record $1.43bn half-year profit on the back of huge demand from customers to fly again in a period also marked by high fares and flight delays.

Its chief executive, Alan Joyce, described the result as a “huge turnaround” after three turbulent pandemic years, and defended ticket prices which are still 20% above 2021 levels.

“What we are seeing is that as we add capacity back in, fares are moderating,” Joyce said on Thursday. “There’s plenty of competition. Qantas cannot dictate the airfares of the market.”

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He said fares had risen due to high fuel costs and because capacity couldn’t keep up with demand amid supply chain constraints.

The profit, generated in the six months to December, contrasts with the dour returns from a year earlier, when the national carrier reported a $1.28bn loss. The record six-month profit rivals the size of returns Qantas was delivering over a full year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The large returns and healthy margins also contrast with the financial pressures faced by households, weighed down by rising rents and mortgages and inflation-fuelled food and electricity costs.

The Labor senator Tony Sheldon said the airline was profiteering.

“There’s nothing to celebrate in Qantas making massive profits by ripping off customers with extortionate airfares during a cost-of-living crisis,” said Sheldon, the former national secretary at the Transport Workers’ Union.

There has been a lot of turbulence at the national carrier over the pandemic years. Joyce’s pay packet has remained robust throughout the period, despite customer fury about service failures, lost bags and cancelled