Aviation supply chain woes to last 18 months, Qantas boss says

Earlier this month, Qantas forecast an underlying profit before tax of between $1.2 billion and $1.3 billion for the first six months of its financial year, despite the burden of higher jet fuel prices and the effect of high inflation on consumer spending.

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The forecast beat analyst expectations of Qantas returning to profit by the end of June 2023. Its shares surged by as much as 12 per cent, and were trading 9.9 per cent higher at $5.68 by mid-afternoon.

Joyce said the difficulty of reviving the industry so quickly after it was grounded cannot be understated, referencing the lengthy process reviving the airline’s 12 A380s in California’s Mojave Desert and the extensive retraining process for the airline’s pilots.

“Waking up a single A380 is 4500 hours, or two months’ work. It requires 10 engineers to work for two months in the desert. Its 22 wheels and 16 brakes require replacing, its oxygen cylinders, fire extinguishers, Wi-Fi, all of it requires replacing. All of this is just to get one aircraft out of the desert,” Joyce said. Most then have to go through 100 days of maintenance before they’re ready to fly.

Joyce said Sydney Airport’s new owners should combine its domestic and international terminals to ease transfers and enhance operations, adding its separation continues to be his “biggest pain point”.

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