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SINGAPORE—Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia’s largest
airline, met with corporate clients and other customers
after several incidents on its flights raised concerns
that safety standards may be slipping.
Qantas
started the briefings “recently,’’ it said in an e-mail
reply to Bloomberg queries. The Sydney-based carrier was
ordered by a government regulator this month to improve
the maintenance of its planes. “We are more than happy
to brief our corporate and other clients on these
programs and systems,’’ the carrier said.
Qantas
needs to convince its customers on safety to avert a
risk of losing business passengers to rivals such as
Singapore Airlines Ltd. Qantas, with a near spotless
crash record, has this year announced job cuts and
slashing of routes to cope with higher oil prices.
“Qantas
has acknowledged that it was a concern and that they
were getting feedback from their customers, business
travelers and frequent fliers,’’ said Peter Harbison,
managing director of the Centre for Asia Pacific
Aviation. “They have been seeking to reassure them to
let them know that they are as safe as they ever were.’’
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. received a
briefing from the carrier, while BHP Billiton Ltd.
declined to comment on specific meetings, both companies
said in separate e-mail replies to Bloomberg queries.
Executives from both companies were among clients to
have been briefed by Geoff Sartori, the carrier’s head
of safety, according to a report by the Sydney Morning
Herald Wednesday.
On July
25, a Qantas aircraft made an emergency landing in
Manila after an oxygen tank exploded, puncturing the
plane’s fuselage at 29,000 feet. On August 2 a Qantas
flight was forced to return to Sydney soon after takeoff
due to a fluid-leak in a wing.
Qantas,
which operates 3,000 flights a week, has said it spends
A$1.44 billion a year on maintenance. The airline has
said it will cut 1,500 jobs worldwide and estimates
fiscal 2009 profit will be lower by about 47 percent.
(Bloomberg) |
