Addendum
Qantas boss offers aviation policy reset for the post pandemic era
December 1st 2020
Policy shifts in industrial relations, aviation regulation and Australia’s response to climate change are necessary to take aviation forward, Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce said last month. Read More »
In the second Shepherd Oration to Australian business leaders, Joyce outlined reforms the airline company believed Australia should adopt to ensure the country made a strong recovery from COVID-19.
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Three areas of policy were top of his list, he said: introducing flexibility into “a rigid, overly complex industrial relations system”, identifying the right balance between regulation and the free market and not allowing COVID-19 to distract governments from the significant impact of climate change.
Joyce said the airline group’s lived experience was that with “business as usual turned on its head” because of the pandemic, “we need an industrial relations framework that lets employers and employees make adjustments more easily” to changed circumstances rather than go through protracted court proceedings that are costly and lengthy.
Joyce also argued against the risk of over-regulation of the industry by government agencies such as Australia’s competition regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The ACCC has made it clear it wants plenty more competition in the aviation sector as we come through COVID, Joyce said.
“We agree. But we think it is ignoring the substantial challenges all players face, including Qantas,” he said.
“Virgin (Virgin Australia) has come through administration with a much lower cost base. They have been able to walk away from deals for aircraft leases to supplier contracts to loans that Qantas can’t.
“And now REX plans to enter the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane triangle with its own jet services. For an industry picking itself up from the floor, this is an incredible amount of competition.
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“You can understand why our people find it ironic there is a now a team of public servants at the ACCC dedicated to keeping an eye on Qantas when it has most of its workforce stood down given the state of the industry. We now have ongoing monitoring to the ACCC to comply with on top of all our other challenges.”
Addressing climate change is the third issue Australia must confront, Joyce said. “Australia’s policy progress [on dealing with climate change] has been slowed by deeply partisan debates. We’ve let science lead the way on the pandemic and it has worked. Why should climate change be any different?”
Sustainable Aviation Fuels “are a critical component in achieving the company’s target of net zero emissions by 2050 as they emit 80% less emissions than jet fuels,” he said. “In Europe and the U.S., they are emerging as a viable alternative thanks largely to government policy, national and state financial support and major partnerships to develop refineries.
“Australia should be doing the same thing. For example, Western Sydney Airport should not open without a biofuel facility from day one,” he said.
“The challenge of COVID has not blinded us to how important this is and the need to keep investing in lower-emissions technology.”
