NJS-717s ?
Wednesdays West Australian
Qantas cranks up overhaul
By Geoffrey Thomas
QANTAS Airways is close to unveiling a major rationalisation and upgrade of its QantasLink regional jet service, including those in WA.
QantasLink is made up of five separate entities, Southern Australia in Melbourne, Eastern Australia in Sydney, Sunstate in Brisbane, QantasLink in Perth and the Sydney-based Air Connex, which is the former Impulse Airlines.
Insiders at Qantas say the group is moving to just two basic operations - one for its 32 Dash 8 commuter turbo-props and the other for the Boeing 717 and BAe 146 jets.
In WA, National Jet Systems (NJS) operates five BAe 146 jets for QantasLink to destinations such as Port Hedland, Newman, Parrabadoo, Karratha and Kalgoorlie as well as another nine BAe 146s around Australia for QantasLink. NJS is the second biggest airline group in Australia with 46 jets and 1000 staff.
Qantas, however, is keen to replace the ageing 85-seat, four-engine BAe 146 jets with bigger 106-seat, twin-jet Boeing 717s, which have proved extremely economical and popular with passengers.
The airline inherited eight 717s when it bought Impulse Airlines a year ago and has just leased another six, worth $360 million at list prices, which are being delivered now, and it is negotiating with Boeing for another batch of 10, valued at $600 million.
When the six new 717s are delivered, QantasLink's fleet will top 76 aircraft. It operates 2500 flights a week and employs 2000 staff.
The drive to rationalise the operation is coming from the increased importance of combating Virgin Blue's lower cost structure as QantasLink pilots and crews are on similar wage structures to Virgin Blue's flight crews.
Sources at Qantas suggest it is likely NJS, which is owned by UK-based Cobham Group, will start operating 717s for QantasLink.
Qantas also plans to expand Cairns as a QantasLink destination with the launch of Australian Airlines in October this year from Cairns. This would provide a low-cost operation to bring tourists into Cairns and then on to other tourist destinations, such as Alice Springs and Tasmania.
In WA, Qantas has had a two-pronged approach using 156-seat Boeing 737s to major centres such as Kalgoorlie, Karratha and Broome under the Qantas banner and the QantasLink BAe 146s to smaller centres.
Under the rationalisation the 737 flights would continue and be expanded, while 717s would replace the BAe 146s.