Qantas boss makes 'staggering' admission about losses

Qantas has announced massive losses due to impact of the pandemic in its annual results. Photo / File

Qantas has faced troubling times in the last six months as flights return to pre-pandemic levels — from staff shortages, increased flight cancellations and baggage mishandling.

As Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced the airline's full yearly results for 2022, he said it has been an "extremely challenging" time for the Group.

Joyce announced Qantas Group had an underlying loss before tax of almost A$1.9 billion ($2.12b) and a statutory loss before tax of just under A$1.2b.

"That brings our total losses since the start of the pandemic to more than A$7b and takes lost revenue to more than A$25b," he said.

"To put that in perspective, on a statutory basis, Covid cost us more money in the past three years than we made in the five years before that.

"The fact we've been able to steer through this is remarkable."

Third consecutive loss and rebound

Joyce said things are now "improving even faster than we expected" and people are keen to get back to travel.

"Twelve months ago, almost all of Australia's borders were closed. Most of us were stuck at home. International travel felt like a very distant prospect," Joyce said.

"Now, our flights are full, and we can't bring aircraft out of storage fast enough.

"The numbers we're reporting today put the full impact of the Delta and Omicron lockdowns on the Group in stark financial terms. But they also show how quickly – and how strongly – the recovery is now happening."

"Revenue intakes for leisure travel are around 125 per cent of pre-Covid levels.

"For business travel, it's 90 per cent – and that's despite the fact many people are still working from home during the current Covid and flu spike."

'Weren't ready for spread'

Joyce addressed that strong travel demand "also brought on some difficulties" for the airline.

"We knew the recovery was coming and we were ready for the restart. What we weren't ready for – after 18 months of Covid being suppressed – was such high levels of community transmission and the sick leave that followed," he said.

Joyce said the rebound in travel demand also coincided with a massive labour shortage.

"Of course, that shortage has been more acute in aviation because of how many people left the industry during two very uncertain years," he said.

"It's the same story at airlines and airports around the world.

"All of this resulted in well-publicised problems: long queues, delayed flights and misplaced bags."

He explained it was "incredibly tough" for staff and "deeply frustrating" for passengers.

"It simply wasn't good enough, and for that, we have apologised," he said.

On Sunday, Joyce apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the airline's unideal service — issuing frequent flyer members with a A$50 "apology voucher".

"We know the return to flying hasn't gone smoothly. Over the past few months too many of you have had flights delayed, flights cancelled or bags misplaced," Joyce said in a video on Sunday.

"There are good reasons why, but when it comes to what you expect from Qantas, it's not good enough."