Qantas delays deliveries of Boeing 787-9s as part of fleet plan restructure.
Massive one-off costs of $398 million have slammed the Qantas full year result, with the carrier reporting an overall loss of $244 million but an “underlying profit before tax” of $95 million for the year to 30 Jun.
The extraordinary costs include measures to address the carrier’s legacy cost base and initiation of the turnaround plan for the international operations, according to ceo Alan Joyce, who said that all parts of the group were profitable apart from the international network.
“Jetstar and Qantas Frequent Flyer achieved record results and Qantas’ domestic operations outperformed the prior year,” he said.
The underlying EBIT loss for the international operations was about $450 million, while the Qantas and Jetstar domestic networks delivered underlying EBIT of approximately $600 million.
“Qantas has been through an exceptional period in its history over the past 12 months…over the course of the year we made significant progress in advancing the group’s strategy – building on our strong domestic business and frequent flyer program and growing Jetstar across Asia. Qantas’ International turnaround plan is on track and set for improvement in 2012/13,” Joyce added.
He said that the group would now shift its focus to debt reduction, with a restructure of its fleet delivery plan including reducing potential commitments to the Boeing 787-9 from 85 down to 50 aircraft.
15 B787-8s will be delivered as planned to Jetstar, with the first aircraft to arrive in the second half of 2013, enabling the transfer of JQ A330s to Qantas Domestic and the eventual retirement of the 767 fleet.
Fifty B787-9 options and purchase rights will be retained and brought forward by almost two years, available for delivery from 2016 – however firm commitments for 35 B787-9s will be cancelled, resulting in a two year delay in the group’s first B787-9 delivery.
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