Virgin comes out winning from Qantas’ tanking reputation: YouGov BrandIndex

Adelaide, Australia - March 21, 2016: Planes from domestic air industry competitors and rivals Qantas and Virgin, coming and going from Adelaide airport.
Edited by Travel Weekly


Qantas’ brand health has taken an unprecedented dive after the airline allegedly sold tickets for thousands of flights that had already been cancelled.

Data from YouGov BrandIndex revealed that Virgin Australia emerged as the main beneficiary of Qantas Airways’ ongoing crisis.

On September 6, Alan Joyce stepped down as CEO of Qantas Airways two months ahead of schedule, handing over leadership of the Australian flag carrier to former CFO Vanessa Hudson. His abrupt departure came days after the airline faced legal action from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), for allegedly selling tickets for thousands of flights that had already been cancelled over a three-month period in 2022.

Barely a week after the leadership change, the High Court of Australia unanimously ruled that Qantas broke industrial law by illegally firing 1,700 ground staff at 10 Australian airports in 2020, upholding an earlier federal court ruling which the airline had appealed against.

Following this tumultuous string of high-profile lawsuits, how has Qantas’ brand health been impacted?

Latest data from YouGov BrandIndex shows that consumer sentiment towards “The Flying Kangaroo” has soured sharply as news of its alleged misconduct spreads far and wide.

Qantas’ Buzz score (which measures whether consumers have heard more positive or negative things about a brand in the past two weeks) hovered around 10 points for most of July, but dipped to 7.7 on August 21 when it was served a class-action lawsuit for allegedly withholding refunds on cancelled flights, then dropped to 3.1 on August 31 when the ACCC started legal proceedings.

By the time Joyce stepped down on September 6, Qantas’ Buzz score had entered negative territory at -1.9 – which meant more consumers heard something negative than positive about the brand over the past two weeks – before plummeting to -7.2 by September 14, a day after Australia’s top court ruled that the carrier illegally fired 1,700 ground staff during the pandemic.

Consumer impression towards Qantas took a similar nosedive. Between the class-action lawsuit on August 21 and Joyce’s early exit on September 6, the airline’s Impression score lost 10 points – declining from 26.9 to 16.9 – before falling to 8.3 the day after the High Court ruling, on September 14.

Meanwhile, the flag carrier’s Index score (an overall measure of brand health calculated as an average of Impression, Quality, Value, Reputation, Satisfaction, Recommendation scores) more than halved over the same period: tumbling from 21.5 on August 21 to 10.2 by September 14.

Data from YouGov BrandIndex also reveals that Virgin Australia has emerged as the main beneficiary of Qantas Airways’ ongoing crisis. Virgin’s Index score, which was neck to neck with Qantas in early August, has started on an upward trend since late August – as Qantas’ Index score moved in the opposite direction.
Between Qantas’s class-action lawsuit on August 21 and its change of CEO on September 6, Virgin’s Index score rose from 25.1 to 27.6 points – before climbing to 28.8 by September 14, after Australia’s top court ruled Qantas has illegally fired ground staff during the pandemic.

During this period, Virgin also launched a baggage tracking tool covering more than two-thirds of its domestic network in Australia, and a self-service flight rebooking tool for business passengers whose flights have been disrupted.

Qantas’ smaller rival Bonza Aviation also recorded slight gains in consumer sentiment over the same period. The low-cost carrier saw its Index score increase from 3.1 on August 21 to 4.7 by September 14, although this remains more than five points lower than Qantas.

Latest News

  • Aviation

Highlights of CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific

Delays in new aircraft delivery, supply-chain issues, terminal upgrades, premium travel, the failure of China to return to global travel, plus sustainable fuel were the hot topics for the hundreds of delegates who attended Day 1 of the CAPA Airline Leader Summit Australia Pacific at The Star in Brisbane today. On sustainable aviation fuel, while […]

  • Aviation

Air India to target Indian-Australians as part of its rebuild, says its CEO & MD

Air India, now part of the huge TATA group, is on a steady rebuild and will target the growing diaspora of Indian-Australians as part of its rebuild, said its CEO & MD Campbell Wilson. Over the last two years, Air India has increased flights to Australia by 113 per cent per week, increased the number […]

  • Destinations
  • Tourism

The NT tops list of hidden gem attractions out of Aussie states

As Australia steps into spring with temperatures set to rise above average, new research has revealed the states with the most must-see hidden gem attractions with the great outdoors proving a winner! The study, conducted by travel and luggage experts at Bounce, used Tripadvisor and search data to uncover Australia’s most treasured destinations. The Northern […]

  • Health & Wellness
  • Hotels

Fusion Hotel Group celebrates World Wellness Weekend

Vietnam’s wellness-inspired Fusion Hotel Group is celebrating World Wellness Weekend from 20-22 September with yoga and other healthy living activities. Fusion Hotel Group has introduced a series of events and activities for guests at five of its luxury beachfront resorts in Vietnam to World Wellness Weekend. The exclusive offers include yoga, meditation, onsen baths, Zumba, […]

  • Hotels

InterContinental Wellington unveils new Health Club and Classic Rooms makeover

InterContinental Wellington has announced the completion of its newly revamped Health Club and a stylish makeover of its Classic Rooms. Bringing a new level of luxury to its 79 Classic Rooms, including eight accessible rooms, the hotel has meticulously re-styled these spaces in collaboration with Y-6, an acclaimed Interior Architecture and Design studio based in […]

  • Cruise
  • Cruise Lines

Celestyal Journey celebrates its first anniversary

Celestyal Journey has notched up one year with Celestyal, travelling 66,100 nautical miles in its first year, mostly around the Greek Islands. The 55,877-tonne ship joined the Celestyal fleet following a multi-million-dollar refurbishment made her maiden voyage for the Greek cruise line on 2 September 2023, a seven-night Idyllic Aegean cruise to Thessaloniki, Kusadasi, Heraklion […]