from the Australian,
NEXT month's announcement on restructuring Qantas International will signal the start of phased but tough transformation of the airline over coming years that could include replicating the airline's successful frequent flyer scheme offshore. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce raised the prospect in a speech at a Sydney aviation conference today that was also likely to heighten speculation of a full-service offshoot in Asia.
Mr Joyce told the Australia Pacific Aviation Outlook Summit that the airline's review of its international operations would aim to keep Qantas Australia's leading premium airline while strengthening the focus on alliances, reviewing non-performing business segments and expanding in Asia.
"Change is always tough," he said. "But the competitive challenges we face make major change essential and our commitment to the change process is absolute.
"I believe we have a major opportunity to go beyond the natural limitations of our market size and geography, to become a champion Australian company in a globalised region and world."
Mr Joyce reiterated the airline's interest in Asia and China and pointed to Jetstar's rapid expansion in the region.
He said there was also an enormous opportunity to leverage the mainline carrier's excellence in brand management, aviation safety and other skills.
And in what appears to be a reference to a potential Asian full-service airline, Mr Joyce said the company saw continuing opportunities for the Jetstar model and "lessons to be learned for Qantas".
"I want to see both our airline brands maximising their global potential," he said, adding that the frequent flyer program was also "a business model than can be replicated in other markets".
Mr Joyce also used the speech to attack union leaders pursuing industrial action for being out of touch and blocking new business models.
He said new maintenance regulations issued by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to bring Australia into line with Europe recognised the enormous advances in aviation technologies.
The new regulations were a huge step forward for aviation safety that Qantas was capitalising on through a new system called Project Marlin.
The largest and most complex IT project ever undertaken by Qantas engineering, Mr Joyce said Marlin allowed Qantas to look at a sophisticated database and get an instant maintenance update on any aircraft anywhere in the world.
The airline would start with its Airbus A380s and progressively phase in the rest of the fleet in what represented the biggest improvement to the airline's maintenance systems since record keeping began.
"More broadly, Qantas is spending billions on next generation aircraft with advanced computer systems linked to ground systems to enable the detailed monitoring of aviation performance in real time," he said.
"The vast majority of people within our business have helped us to maximise the capabilities of these aircraft in terms of fuel-efficient flying techniques and new product and service offerings," he said.
"But our maintenance and repair costs are among the least efficient and most expensive in the world.
"So it's time to catch up. We don't repair our cars the same we did 40 years ago. We can't repair our planes the same way either." my bold
"We can't repair our planes the same way either"
you can say that again AJ
