‘Rock-bottom’: Qantas profits slump as workers plan walkout
Australia’s biggest airline has suffered a fall in earnings as hundreds of ground staff prepare to vote on industrial action.
Source: Qantas
Australia’s biggest airline has suffered a fall in earnings as the impact of war in the Middle East and higher jet fuel costs weighed, shaving hundreds of millions off its annual profit.
Qantas made a bottom net profit of $1.3 billion for 2025-26, down 19.8 per cent from the previous financial year.
Its underlying pre-tax profit also fell, by 13.8 per cent to $2.1 billion, after a 7.1 per cent rise in revenue to $25.5 billion.
Qantas said the net impact of the US-Iran war, which brought higher fuel costs and forced the rerouting of aircraft through Asian airport hubs, on its results was $420 million.
The airline carried almost 56,000 passengers in the year, which was broadly in line with 2024-25.
However, chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the result was strong, despite the war and fuel cost impacts.
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“Qantas continued to see growth at the premium end of the market,” she said on Thursday.
The group’s lower cost carrier, Jetstar, went “from strength to strength”, with almost half of its passengers travelling for under $150 at a time of household budget stress, Hudson said
In mid-April, Qantas delayed a planned $150 million share buyback and reduced domestic capacity because of the Middle East conflict.
It warned the price of jet fuel – its biggest expense – had more than doubled since the war broke out at the end of February.
Like many airlines, Qantas hedges most of its exposure to crude oil, but remains exposed to the cost of refining crude oil into jet fuel.
That expense had increased dramatically from $US20 a barrel in February to a peak of around $US120 a barrel.
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Consequently, the airline expected to spend $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion in the second half of the year on jet fuel, up from its original estimate of $2.5 billion.
It comes as more than 600 Qantas ground workers prepare to vote on industrial action, according to the Transport Workers Union (TWU).
The union is fighting what it claims are “rock-bottom” pay and safety conditions.
“Hundreds of Qantas workers are now voting on industrial action,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement.
“They’ve had enough of this company doing everything possible to make their jobs less secure and less safe.
“We must ensure Qantas profits benefit the whole Australian public, not just Qantas executives.”
Later on Thursday, the group is expected to give an update on Project Sunrise, its ambitious plan for direct flights to London and New York from Australia’s east coast.
The first specialised Airbus A350-1000ULR to be used for the long-haul routes touched down in Melbourne on July 24 following a test flight from the Airbus manufacturing facility in Toulouse, France.
Qantas is scheduled to take delivery of the airplane in April 2027 and begin flights between Sydney and London in October 2027.
The airline will also on Thursday open a new dedicated ground training facility at its campus just north of Sydney Airport, which will be used to teach emergency procedures to pilots and cabin crew.
That will complement a separate flight training hub in nearby St Peters that features flight simulators and aircraft cabin mock-ups.
-with AAP
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