Travel

One Airline Is Set to Emerge From Covid Stronger Than Ever

Pandemic has proven terminal for many of Qantas’s peers
CEO Joyce combined ruthless cost cutting and political guile

WATCH: Qantas is poised to emerge stronger from the pandemic than its peers. Still it faces challenges. Angus Whitley reports.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Angus Whitley

June 23, 2021 at 4:00 PM UTC

Updated on

June 24, 2021 at 6:03 AM UTC

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It’s the final Wednesday of January 2020, the coronavirus has yet to claim anyone outside of China, and Qantas Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce is all smiles and handshakes. He’s flown almost two hours north from Sydney to the mining town of Toowoomba to open a pilot academy. In the sweltering heat of the open hangar, he tells a crowd of staff, students and local politicians that graduates will one day captain the giant Airbus SE A380s or Boeing Co. Dreamliners that anchor the iconic Australian airline’s long-haul network.