Qantas has announced plans to cut domestic capacity in the coming months, citing “sustained high fuel prices” and “near-term resourcing pressures”.
The group said it would adjust domestic capacity levels “for much of FY23”, including an additional 5 percentage points being removed in July and August (removed on top of the 10 per cent announced in May).
September domestic capacity will also be reduced by 15 per cent, while schedules from October 2022 to March 2023 will be reduced by 10 per cent.
Qantas said that “The customer impacts from these schedule changes are expected to be minimal, with capacity being removed mostly from high frequency routes”, and it added that the group’s planned domestic flying for the second quarter of FY23 would still be above pre-Covid levels (106 per cent), rising to 110 per cent for the third quarter.
The group said that Qantas and subsidiary carrier Jetstar had recruited more than 1,000 operational team members and “hundreds of additional contact centre staff” since April, with 20 per cent more team members on standby “to minimise any impact of sick leave”.
Qantas is also in the process of rolling out new next-generation self-service kiosks, which it says will help to speed up customers’ journeys.
New Qantas self-service kiosks “four times quicker” than existing machines
There will be no changes to planned international capacity, with the group expecting to operate at 70 per cent of pre-Covid levels by the end of the first quarter of FY23, rising to 90 per cent by the fourth quarter.
Last week the carrier announced plans to add routes to Jakarta and Johannesburg from its growing Perth hub later this year.
Qantas to launch flights from Perth to Jakarta and Johannesburg
