Huge changes coming to Qantas as airline tackles baggage problem

Qantas has vowed to make lost luggage a thing of the past as it unveils a raft of new changes to its airline.

The airline shared a wave of its long-term plans to improve the business on Tuesday during the national airline’s Investor Strategy Day.

Changes to the boarding process, frequent flyers and aircraft were among the proposals submitted.

The most notable change was a vow to address one of the issues that has enraged countless travelers in the past: lost luggage.

The national airline has struggled with lost luggage, cancellations, delays and staff shortages over the past year as people started flying again after Covid.

To address the problem of lost luggage, Qantas will add luggage tracking to a major overhaul of its app, which is expected to be available by the end of 2023.

The airline’s CEO Alan Joyce said new technology is a critical part of its plans to provide better service to customers after announcing record profits of nearly $2.5 billion due to high fares and booming demand.

Last July, an employee of an outsourcing firm that replaced workers laid off during the pandemic claimed that Qantas lost “one in 10” bags of luggage — though the company disputed the figure.

“The rate of mishandled baggage across the Qantas network over the past four weeks is around one per cent and our teams are working hard to further reduce this figure,” a spokesman for the airline told Daily Mail Australia at the time.

The airline was taken to court by the Transport Workers Union in late 2020 when it was found to have illegally fired nearly 2,000 baggage handlers, cleaners and ground staff before outsourcing their jobs.

The misplaced luggage situation reached a high point last September when a lone bag was left on the tarmac at Sydney Airport.

Qantas hopes that the updated app, which will also give customers more control over their bookings and better integration with the frequent flyer program, will improve this.

The ‘flying kangaroo’ also wants to improve its services with a ‘right plane, right route’ approach.

The next generation of A220, B787 and A320 aircraft will have more comfortable cabins, less noise and lower CO2 emissions, the airline said.

It said it has been listening to customer feedback, which will lead to changes to the onboarding process from October 2023 to improve performance in time.

“New technology is central to our plan and the next-generation aircraft that have begun to arrive will transform our network in the years to come,” said Mr Joyce.

“We will be able to better serve our customers, lower our cost base through lower ongoing costs and gain new competitive advantages.”

Earlier this month, Qantas said it expects to make 2022/23 underlying profit before tax of between $2.425 and $2.475 billion, significantly beating previous records.

The Australian airline does not expect demand for travel to slow down as it reported record profits thanks to high fares and a booming domestic market.

It said revenues would remain well above pre-Covid levels until 2023/24, particularly for international flights, and fares would gradually fall as the industry added capacity.

While the airline has promised “continued investment in low fares,” the cost of lying isn’t falling as fast as travelers would like.

But that hasn’t affected demand. Bookings indicate continued strong growth in travel. with revenue currently at 118 percent of Qantas’ pre-pandemic level for domestic flights and 123 percent for international travel.

Qantas plans to significantly expand its current range of redemption options for frequent flyers and improve the boarding process to improve on-time performance for flights.