Qantas vouchers: Airline offers $50 travel credit to frequent flyers to apologise for disruptions

Qantas is offering its frequent flyers $50 travel credits to apologise for months of disruptions that have troubled the airline since the borders reopened after the coronavirus pandemic.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce personally delivered the apology in a video and email sent to its members on Sunday.

‘Over the past few months, too many of you have had flights delayed, flights cancelled and bags misplaced,’ Mr Joyce said.

‘There are good reasons why, but when it comes to what you expect from Qantas, it’s not good enough.

‘On behalf of the national carrier, I want to apologise and assure you that we’re working hard to get back to our best.’

Qantas is offering is frequent flyers $50 travel credits to apologise for the ongoing disruptions that have troubled the airline for the past few months

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce personally delivered the apology in a video and email sent to its members

The $50 travel credit can be used by passengers when purchasing a return Qantas flight.

Frequent flyers with a silver status and above will also be able to access the Qantas club or international business lounge.

Mr Joyce said work was already being done to improve the services of the airline.

‘We’ve hired 1500 more people since April, we’ve adjusted schedules … to deal with a 50 per cent jump in sick leave and we’re rolling our new technology to make your journey easier,’ he said.

‘We’re already seeing a sustained improvement in baggage handling and on-time performance, and while factors out of our control like weather can have an impact on our schedule, we expect things to keep improving each week.’

The voucher comes as Qantas’ reputation takes a nosedive with the airline troubled by airline delays and cancellations, long boarding times and luggage handling woes.

In early August, Qantas asked senior executives to leave their cushy jobs and work full-time as baggage handlers for up to three months as the airline.

Colin Hughes, the airline’s chief operating officer, wrote to high-level staff saying Qantas was looking for at least 100 managers to work in a variety of airport roles for up to five days a week.

The $50 travel credit can be used by passengers when purchasing a return Qantas flight

Mr Hughes said there was ‘no expectation that you will opt into this role on top of your full-time position’, but noted it was a necessary action to take as a response to growing criticism of Qantas’ ability to handle passenger demand.

‘During your time in the contingency program, you’ll be an embedded resource within the ground handling partners,’ the airline’s COO wrote.

‘This means you’ll receive a roster, be scheduled to operate and be supervised and managed in the live operations by our grand handling partners.’

QantasLink topped the list for cancelled flights in April this year with 591 getting the chop closely followed by Qantas with 426, data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics shows.

May was even higher with one in every 13 Qantas flights cancelled or 7.6 per cent of the airline’s total flights, up from 5.1 per cent the previous month.