QANTAS: So that’s why I had to cut in front of the Premier to enter the Adelaide Qantas Club today

Weird thing happened today when I was heading to the Adelaide Qantas Club. There were a bunch or press cameras. Something I should be used to, I know. But I was not the focus. They were for Steve Marshall, Premier of South Australia to announce with Alan Joyce that a bunch of (5) Embraer E190 aircraft will be based in Adelaide as Qantas increases its domestic flights as Australians holiday at home.

These 94-seat jets have a five-hour range and are being deployed as part of a 3-year deal with Alliance Airlines, but painted in QantasLink livery.

Jobs

Steve Marshall was there because planes mean jobs – a combination of 200 pilots, cabin crew and engineers recruited by Alliance and based in Adelaide.

Basing these five aircraft in Adelaide will bring an additional 200 jobs to the State, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers recruited by Alliance.  It was secured with the support of the South Australian Government and Adelaide Airport.

Adelaide-Gold Coast

Qantas is going for a winter route to the heat of the Gold Coast from Adelaide just in time for the winter school hols. So from 25 June for $149 one-way, you can get to the Gold Coast direct with an initial 4, building to 7 flights per week. And they are talking about more routes out of Adelaide to be announced in the next few weeks.

Domestic Capacity

Qantas’s Alan Joyce is also being very positive about the recovery of domestic flying:

“We’re continuing to see really positive signs of sustained recovery, with strong travel demand and forward bookings expected to see our domestic capacity back above 100 per cent of pre-COVID levels in the coming months. That’s great progress when you consider we were as low as 20 per cent of our normal flying levels at the height of lockdown.”

Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

Alan, you don’t have to convince me of the positive change. I’m flying it!