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Qantas has suffered a 13 per cent drop in profits as fewer Australians booked flights on the flying kangaroo airline.
The bad news was Vanessa Hudson’s first results presentation since she replaced her embattled predecessor Alan Joyce as chief executive in September last year.
“We know millions of Australians trust us and we have heard their feedback loud and clear,” he told shareholders on Thursday.
“There is a lot of work being done to improve our service levels and the early signs are really positive.”
In the six months to December, Qantas made an underlying profit of $1.25 billion after tax, down $183 million, or 12.8 percent, from a year ago.
But it was better than the $1.16 billion analysts had expected.
Qantas has announced that its underlying profit fell 13 per cent in the first half due to falling fares.
Revenue rose 12.3 percent to $11.1 billion.
Lower fares reduced revenue, cutting Qantas’ profits by around $600 million, although this was largely offset by increased flights, which boosted profits by $485 million.
The report is the first from Qantas under new chief executive Vanessa Hudson, who said on Thursday the airline’s customer satisfaction levels had recovered strongly since December.
“We know millions of Australians trust us and we have heard their feedback loud and clear,” he said.
Rates have dropped more than 10 percent since peaking in late 2022, he added.