How long has qantas been operating

The government privatised the then all-international Qantas, which was merged with domestic carrier Australian Airlines. Qantas launched low-cost carrier Jetstar.

PA A super-jumbos to its fleet. Qantas connected Australia and Europe with a non-stop flight for the first time, from Perth to London on a Boeing The airline operated scientific research flights from Sydney non-stop to London and New York, in preparation for future routes.

These new international services would reach their peak in , with Qantas became a true round the world operator. In , the same year that Qantas drew worldwide attention bring visitors and the flame to Australia for the Melbourne Olympics, the airline entered the jet age.

The airline placed an order for seven Boeing aircraft, with delivery in These started service to the US and to the UK that same year. And by the fleet reached 19 jets including six higher capacity C aircraft as propeller aircraft were phased out.

This need for more capacity continued, and led Qantas to bring in the Boeing in This was a couple of years after some other airlines began operating it. Qantas had waited for the introduction of the B, a better suited aircraft for their long haul routes. The allowed them to restructure airfares, and the lower fares they could offer on long haul flights saw high expansion in passenger numbers.

Qantas retired the in , and for several years operated an all international fleet. This would expand in with the introduction of the Boeing , and again in with the The first flight of this set a world record for commercial flight distance with a non-stop flight from London to Sydney.

Major changes took place at Qantas during the late s. In , Qantas bought the government owned domestic carrier Australian Airlines. This partnership went further in , with the two airlines both being founding members of the Oneworld alliance. This would reduce with the later growth of Virgin Blue. Leslie felt that there was now more optimism because of depressed fuel prices and cost-cutting by airlines; he felt the main opportunity in Australia lay with tourism.

Although the introduction of large, long-range aircraft could affect Australia's neighbors, Leslie reasoned, tourist traffic from the Asian region itself could be increased.

In , Qantas embarked upon the next stage of its fleet modernization program with an order for four fuel-efficient Boeing s, which the company hoped would keep it competitive with British Airways the successor to BOAC and Singapore Airlines on its Britain-Australia and transpacific routes.

The record profits made in of AUD This plan was abandoned after it met with strong opposition in New Zealand. As a result, Qantas acquired a The subsequent disclosure of this agreement damaged the reputation of Qantas.

At the same time, it was revealed that AUD 5. In , the Australian government proposed the complete privatization of Qantas because in order to remain competitive it needed substantial capital injections, which the government was unable to fund. This new proposal led to a bitter argument in the ALP. During the year, Qantas took delivery of the first of its ten long-haul Boeing s and flew it nonstop from London to Sydney. It was the first airline to do so and, at 17, kilometers, it was the longest single distance any commercial aircraft had ever flown.

In , Qantas reported a loss as a result of its fleet expansion program and the five-month-long domestic pilots' dispute. These losses increased during as a result of the Persian Gulf crisis, and by early the airline was facing its worst financial situation since its foundation, including the Great Depression.

It was decided to lay off 5, employees, sell nine Boeing s earlier than planned, and cut flying hours by 14 percent in the year to June 30, In early , Leslie was succeeded as chairman by Bill Dix, with John Ward continuing as chief executive, a position he attained in the late s. The Australian government abandoned plans to float the airline in early , however, and decided on a trade sale instead.

Change came swiftly and dramatically for Qantas in the mids. Foreign interests were to be allowed to invest up to 35 percent, with the Australian government retaining a "golden share. The move was part of British Airways' push to create a global airline by forming a series of alliances, and it followed previous British Airways deals for 49 percent of TAT of France, 49 percent of Deutsche BA, and 31 percent of Air Russia.

For Qantas, the deal with British Airways created management turmoil, as it was reported that both Dix and Ward opposed the alliance. By mid, both had departed the company, replaced by Gary Pemberton, former chief executive of Brambles Ltd.

The new management team immediately faced the challenge of completing the privatization, as well as improving upon the dismal results of fiscal an after-tax loss of AUD A plan for a September public offering of the remaining 75 percent of Qantas still owned by the government was pushed back because a spate of privatizations were hitting the Australian market at about the same time. The long-anticipated initial public offering IPO finally took place in July , and the company's shares were listed on the Australian Stock Exchange; the foreign ownership limit was set at 49 percent.

Qantas thus celebrated its 75th anniversary in as a public company. From through , the alliance between Qantas and British Airways evolved into a comprehensive collection of code-sharing arrangements, reciprocal frequent flyer programs, reciprocal lounge access agreements, and scheduling and pricing coordination efforts.

The core of this alliance--and most airline alliances--was the code-sharing, whereby a flight operated by one carrier would also be listed in computer reservation systems under another airline's code. In March , Qantas sold its By fiscal , Qantas was solidly in the black, achieving net profits of AUD In early , however, the Asian financial crisis forced the company to cut back on some of its Asian service, including destinations in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.

The crisis threatened to derail, at least temporarily, what had been a fairly successful start to Qantas's public company era. Nevertheless, Qantas, known for its conservative fiscal management, weathered the Asian financial crisis much better than its rivals, noted Air Transport World. Still, competition was strong. While working to cut costs, Qantas revamped its customer service and installed in-flight entertainment systems.

Celebrated Aussie chef Neil Perry was brought in to develop a new menu. The mascot in Qantas's US TV ads, a talking koala, was pulled out of an eight-year retirement in While the original, who made his debut in , had grumbled about being ignored by the tourists Qantas was bringing Down Under, the newer koala was depicted as a savvy traveler himself who enjoyed the airline's improved business class amenities.

The new commercials piggybacked on Australia's visibility as host country of the Summer Olympics, though Qantas was not an official sponsor. More than 20 million passengers flew the airline in Qantas posted revenues of AUD 6. While the September 11, terrorist attacks on the United States had a strong negative effect on international operations, at home the situation for Qantas was becoming very favorable. ANZ into bankruptcy as well.

Qantas was allowed to buy struggling low-cost startup Impulse Airlines Pty Limited, leaving Qantas with an 80 percent share of the domestic Australian aviation market. In , Qantas proposed acquiring a large However, the suggested linkup aroused antitrust concerns from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Profit before tax reached a record AUD Qantas carried more than 30 million passengers in Fifteen new aircraft were added to the fleet during the year, ranging from Dash 8s to Boeing s.

Qantas teamed with Australia Post to acquire Star Track Express, a year-old freight carrier, in late December It was originally focused on Eastern Australia. Geoff Dixon, Qantas CEO since March , told Aviation Week the company was aiming to let domestic market share slip no lower than 65 percent in the face of new competition, including Richard Branson's Virgin Blue entrant.

Qantas was also a partner in a new low-cost regional carrier based in Singapore called Jetstar Asia. According to Aviation Week, Qantas was looking for growth outside of Australia in order to maintain its place in a consolidating global aviation industry.

In addition to being a code-share partner with a long list of carriers, Qantas was a member of the oneworld alliance led by American Airlines and British Airways, whose shareholding in Qantas had by then been diluted to