The flagship airline of Australia since 1922, Qantas Airways is currently in the process of preparing to overtake Singapore Airlines as the carrier running the longest flight in the world: dubbed as Project Sunrise over the fact that passengers on these two flights will be able to see two sunrises, the plan refers to the new Airbus A350-1000ULR “ultra long-range” planes that the airline ordered to start flights from Sydney Airport (SYD) to London’s Heathrow (LHR) and New York’s JFK by 2027.
The flight to London will traverse 10,573 miles and take 22 hours and 20 minutes while the one to New York will span 10,100 miles and take 20 hours and 41 minutes. Qantas also eventually plans to use the new aircraft to roll out flights to New York and London from Melbourne.
As the carrier ramps up its marketing around the new planes and flights, Qantas just announced that its top executives will not be able to fly in the six first class seats in each new A350 plane.
After promising transparency, Qantas Airways to not give execs first-class seats on new A350s
As first reported by Rampart, Qantas International CEO Cam Wallace sent out an internal note saying that the 13 senior directors and executives that otherwise receive free business and first class flights on the airline for both themselves and their family members will not be able to use them on the new A350s planes while still enjoying these privileges on the rest of the airline’s fleet network.
Any former executives who traditionally held these privileges even after leaving or retiring from the role will also not be able to use the new first class seats. The move comes down to optics as Australia’s flagship airline has in recent years been rocked by multiple scandals: in September 2023, CEO Alan Joyce ended a 15-year career with the airline by resigning amid a consumer protection lawsuit accusing Qantas of selling tickets for 8,000 flights it never intended to run during the covid-19 pandemic.
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Vanessa Hudson, who stepped in as Joyce’s replacement, then issued a widely-mocked video telling travelers “sorry” and vowing for greater transparency going forward.
Vanessa Hudson (right) replaced Alan Joyce (left) as CEO of Qantas Airways in September 2023.
Bloomberg/Getty Images
Why is Qantas Airways keeping its staff from its first class suites?
The decision is also a matter of economics as the new A350s have just 238 seats with six of them in first class, 52 business, 40 in premium economy and in 140 regular economy. The first class suites are designed to be extra-luxurious with an 80-inch bed and a couch for visitors from other seats.
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The low density and high cost of fuel on such long flights means that the airline needs to maximize the number of paying passengers who take its most expensive product in order to make the flights launched through Project Sunrise economically feasible (throughout history, airlines have launched flashy fast or long flights like the Air Tahiti Nui route between Paris and French Polynesia’s Papeete but have struggled to make them profitable given the cost and low numbers of travelers who will pay to fly them).
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