Qantas has insisted its brand remains strong, despite numerous setbacks over the last 12 months.
Speaking at the Australian Tourism Exchange, executive manager global sales Stephen Thompson admitted the brand had “taken some challenges” including industrial action and problems with the A380. But he said research had shown it had bounced back quickly.
“It’s still one of our greatest assets,” he said. “We’ll be continuing to roll out initiatives to strengthen that.”
Meanwhile, Thompson indicated further route shake-ups were on the cards as it continues its efforts to return its international arm to profitability.
“We have to make tough decisions where we’ve got routes that are underperforming and we can redeploy those assets to get a better return and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” he said.
He justified the splitting of the business into a domestic and international arm saying it would enable the carrier to “get under the skin of the business” to identify where costs lay.
“Our underlying cost base is one of the biggest issues that we’ve got,” he said.
Thompson rubbished any takeover rumours, insisting the airline remains in a strong financial position.
“There are no plans to raise capital, sell core assets or pursue any short term measure that might compromise our long term strategy for the airline,” he said.
