Qantas

Status Exposed

Half of the domestic duopoly. Took A$2.7bn in COVID support, illegally sacked workers, and runs a loyalty scheme bigger than its airline. The Chairman's Lounge is its lobbying machine.

Last on record: 2026-09
Named in: 10 articles
Across: 3 cases

On the DrainA$1.61bn profit after tax · year to June 2025to shareholdersSee the map →

Named in 10 articles across 3 cases 29 connections: companies 16, lobbies 3, mechanisms 2, regulators and bodies 3, people 5

Sourced flow out of public hands, profit after tax · year to June 2025

A$1.61bn

Flowing to shareholders. Qantas Group reported underlying profit before tax of A$2.39 billion for the full year to June 2025, up 15 per cent on the prior year. [5] Statutory profit after tax was A$1.61 billion, up 28 per cent.

Corporate income tax paid · 2023-24

A$8m

A$8m of company income tax, its first since 2018-19 after four straight years of nil through the pandemic. ATO Corporate Tax Transparency 2023-24.

Articles naming it

Cases it recurs across

Linked in the graph

Figures on file

Fig. 01 / Where this name appears

The Airline Rort~5,000 membersThe Qantas Chairman's Lounge includes approximately 90 per cent of federal parliamentarians. Membership is free, by personal invitation of the CEO,…8 articles →The Inflation Rort11 article →The Privacy Rort11 article →

Fig. 01Source: article scan · every article naming itAs of 2026‑09Auto-assembled

Fig. 02 / On the record

~5,000 membersThe Qantas Chairman's Lounge includes approximately 90 per cent of federal parliamentarians. Membership is free, by personal invitation of the CEO, and includes consistent access to upgrades on Qantas flights.Source: Joe Aston, The Chairman's Lounge (2024); WSWS [8]Alan Joyce and the politicians →
The sequenceA$2.7 billion in COVID taxpayer support; illegal sacking of 1,700 workers; record profits restored; Qatar's flights blocked on Qantas's lobbying; upgrade scandal revealed. Each element legal, declared, or unprovable. The system doesn't need to be corrupt to produce corrupt outcomes.Source: [12][13][14][10][1]Alan Joyce and the politicians →
94.4%Qantas Group and Virgin Australia together held 94.4 per cent of all domestic passenger carriage as of March 2025. Bonza's collapse in April 2024 marked the second failed attempt at a third domestic player in a decade. [11]Source: Switzer Daily / ACCC, March 2025The duopoly →
62%Morning peak take-off slots at Sydney Airport (6am–11am weekdays, mid-2024): Qantas held 103 slots (62 per cent); Virgin held 57 (34 per cent); Rex held just 7 (4 per cent). [6]Source: Australian Financial Review / Senate inquiry, 2024The duopoly →
16.1% vs 7.1%Qantas Domestic operating margin versus Qantas International operating margin in H1 FY24-25. The difference is competition.Source: ACCC Domestic Airline Competition Report, May 2025 [2]The fare →
A$2.6 billion revenueIn FY24, Qantas Loyalty generated revenue of approximately A$2.6 billion and underlying EBIT of A$511 million, a record. That profit margin of roughly 20 per cent exceeds even the domestic flying margin of 16.1 per cent.Source: Qantas FY24 results [1,2]; ACCC May 2025 [11]The frequent flyer financial machine →
15 million membersApproximately 50 per cent of the Australian adult population is enrolled in Qantas Frequent Flyer. About 20 per cent of New Zealand's population is also enrolled. This is not a niche product for frequent flyers. It is infrastructure.Source: Wikipedia / Qantas disclosures [4]The frequent flyer financial machine →
COVID resilienceDuring COVID, Qantas's domestic and international flying profits fell over 75%. Loyalty fell 9%. The planes were grounded. The points kept selling. Banks kept paying Qantas for every Qantas Points credit card purchase made by every enrolled Australian. This is not a loyalty program. It is a financial services business that uses flying as its marketing channel.Source: [5][14]The frequent flyer financial machine →

Fig. 02Source: figures on file for this name, each tied to the article it came fromAs of 2026‑09Auto-assembled

Fig. 03 / Named together

The 12 names most often in the same articles as Qantas. A line's weight, and the number by each name, is how many articles name both. Grey chords join the neighbours most often named together themselves (two articles or more). Circles are people and organisations, squares are mechanisms. Named together is all this shows: it is not a finding about what the relationship is.

Fig. 03Source: article scan · articles naming bothAs of 2026‑09Auto-assembled