Qantas Profit Hit by Turbulence, Drops 28 Percent

Australia’s national carrier recorded a 28 percent descent in profit to $1.25 billion after tax in the 2024 financial year.
Since taking over from Alan Joyce, the former CEO of Qantas, Vanessa Hudson has focused on customer service amid a issues with the competition regulator.
In contrast, Qantas subsidiary Jetstar recorded its best-ever result as demand for low fares rose during the year.
Hudson said the “strong financial performance” would allow Qantas to continue to invest in their largest ever fleet renewal program.
“Qantas benefited from increased corporate and resources travel and ongoing high demand for international premium seats, while Jetstar delivered its highest result as it grew to meet increased demand from price-sensitive leisure travellers and saw the benefits from its new aircraft,” she said.
“The introduction of Classic Plus, with millions of frequent flyer seats, helped drive member engagement and strong earnings for Qantas Loyalty.”
During the financial year, Qantas supported the repatriation of more than 600 Australians from Tel Aviv, Israel, and Noumea, New Caledonia.
Qantas also plans to deliver international Wi-Fi on its A330s planes across the South East Asia network in 2025.
Qantas Domestic also invested in new fleet, food and beverage, disruption management and new technology.
However, fuel costs were higher due to more regional flights and other factors. In the second half of the financial year, Qantas noted they experienced high domestic momentum with revenue growth.
Jetstar’s record earnings were driven by solid revenue and profits from both domestic and international networks.
In the second half of 2024, Jetstar started flying from Sydney to Osaka and Brisbane to Seoul and Osaka. The cheaper airline also announced flights from Cairns to Christchurch, Sunshine Coast to Auckland, Sydney to Vanuatu, and Brisbane to Bangkok.
On the digital front, Qantas updated its app during the financial year, including launching a flight status and baggage tracker, and redesigning the home page.
Further, the airline used conversational artificial intelligence (AI) technology and chatbot to improve customer interactions.
The data showed that 49 percent of Australians expressed a wish to fly internationally between June and August, up from 47 percent between March and May.
As for domestic travel, 61 percent of Australians expressed a desire to travel interstate between June and August 2024, down from 62 percent in March to May.
Looking ahead, Qantas expects domestic revenue to rise by 2 to 4 percent in the first half of the financial year.
Conversely, international revenue is predicted to slide 7 to 10 percent due to market capacity restoration. That said, Qantas expects this rate of decline will slow in the 2025 financial year.
The airline invested over $100 million in the climate fund, including $75 million for a Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) development fund.
In June 2024, the company’s net debt was $4.1 billion, which Qantas said was in the bottom half of the target range of $3.9 to $4.9 billion.
Qantas completed $869 million worth of share buy-backs, with another $31 million to be delivered in the first half of 2025.
International revenue rose 12 percent from $7.7 billion in 2023 to $8.7 billion in the 2024 financial year. However, underlying EBIT slid 39 percent to $556 million.
The Qantas Loyalty program delivered an 18 percent boost in revenue to $2.6 billion, while underlying EBIT rose 13 percent to $511 million.
Jetstar, on the other hand, reported a 23 percent boost to $497 million (EBIT), while revenue rose 16 percent to $4.9 billion.