Qantas renegotiates terms with IT suppliers

Qantas said it is reworking its IT service models to introduce more “cost variability” this financial year under restructuring efforts brought about by “the most challenging period in its long history”.

The airline said today that COVID had caused a $4 billion revenue hit, with underlying profit before tax down 91 percent year-on-year.

It said that a series of “restructuring” and “rightsizing” initiatives undertaken in FY21 were “on track” to be delivered.

The biggest impact of this is on redundancies, with the airline saying it will make around 4000 of a planned 6000 people redundant by the end of September.

However, the airline also said it had looked to its suppliers - including those that serve its IT needs - for concessions and a restructure of contracted arrangements.

It said it is “increasing cost variability for service models for IT”, and that it is also “managing demand for corporate and IT supplies and expenses”.

“We have negotiated new terms with many suppliers, which we thank them for,” Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said on a results call. 

“It's been helpful to get us through this crisis.”

Back in June, Qantas put “digitalisation” - and specifically IT delivery transformation and customer experience (CX) - at the centre of its intended recovery strategy, though it remains unclear to what extent that might shield the airline’s IT team from cuts.

There have been some high-profile technology departures in recent weeks, including AI and analytics lead Natalie Ganderton.