Qantas pilots prepare for launch of ‘longest-range’ Airbus A321XLR aircraft

Qantas Group has announced pilots are training ahead of the launch of Australia’s first “longest-range” Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which will allow for more non-stop routes.

The aviation group will add 28 of these aircraft as it progressively replaces its Boeing 737s over the next 10 years.

The first of the planes is set to be in circulation in April next year.

The announcement was made on Thursday when the group posted its end-of-year results, delivering a 28 per cent drop in statutory profit after tax to $1.25bn that chief executive Vanessa Hudson said reflected a “balance” between financial stability and reinvestment into customer service initiatives.

While more than 240 pilots will be trained to fly the aircraft over the next three years, the first cohort has already begun training on an AE 7000XR Series A320 simulator that was specifically shipped to Sydney from Montreal, Canada.

The groups’s chief financial officer Rob Marcolina said the new aircraft would open more domestic opportunities as well as routes into Southeast Asia, plus “exciting” plans for direct routes between Perth and India.

In-flight amenities will also be expanded, including wider economy seats compared with the Boeing 737, free wi-fi for all customers in-flight, and the largest overhead bins of any single-aisle aircraft.

Ms Hudson said the new aircraft would also lead to “more jobs, training and promotion opportunities”.

“Qantas will be one of the first airlines in the world to operate the A321XLR and ahead of the arrival of our first aircraft next year, we’ve started pilot training and finalised the details of the customer experience,” she said.

“Nearly half of all the customers Qantas carries each year travel on our 737 fleet, so the A321XLR aircraft that we’ve ordered to replace them will be incredibly important for our future.”

Posting its FY24 results on Thursday, Qantas revealed an underlying profit before tax of $2.08bn, and a net debt of $4.1bn which was in the bottom half of Qantas’s target range of ($3.9 – $4.9 billion).

The group will also deliver up to $400m to shareholders in the first half of FY25.

While Ms Hudson acknowledged the figures were lower than the previous year, she said this was due to lower airfares, the airline reinvesting in customer services and lower freight revenue.

“We present those results today and have delivered not only a strong result but we are also underpinning that, delivering improved on-time performance and also customer satisfaction,” she said.

“This is about getting the balance right.”

Ms Hudson also spruiked the improvements in customer satisfaction metrics and said the year ahead would result in the group increasing its fleet by 20 aircraft and rolling out wi-fi on its international planes.

Both Qantas and Jetstar improved their on-time performance, with Qantas increasing by 10 points and the budget carrier improving by 8.8 points.

Customer net promoter score for both carriers also improved by 22 points (Qantas) and 19 points (Jetstar).

“Both Qantas and Jetstar saw significant uplift in satisfaction,” Ms Hudson said.

“I speak a lot, a lot to customers on planes and in airports, and what I hear and what they say to me is that things feel different, and that is actually a reflection of the incredible work of our people.”

Commenting on the formation of a new aviation industry ombuds scheme and a charter of customer rights, as detailed in the federal government’s aviation whitepaper released on Monday, Ms Hudson said the airline group would aim to proactively improve performance; however, it would not put “schedule ahead of safety”.

“We’ve been investing in lifting on-time performance and lifting reliability so that we don’t have to recover in those moments,” she said.

“There are going to be times where there are disruptions (like) yesterday (Wednesday) in Sydney. We all would have seen the massive weather events, and communication and managing customers in those moments will always be something that we focus on and drive ourselves to get better at.”

Ms Hudson said she welcomed the white paper, and said it took a “very balanced approach”. While the paper left the door open for customers to receive compensation, Ms Hudson warned that these initiatives could increase prices.

“When we look to the other jurisdictions that have these broader consumer compensation schemes, we actually think that they add cost to airlines,” she said.

“They add cost to fares, and so we think that the government is taking a very measured and a very balanced approach to the way in which they are viewing this.”