- Qantas will make 850 staff redundant from mid-2027
- The carrier is embracing artificial intelligence and offshoring some activities to India
- The deal with Accenture will overhaul IT systems
- Chief executive Vanessa Hudson said the scale and speed of AI change is unprecedented
- The airline is preparing its largest fleet renewal adding 31 aircraft
Qantas has announced it will make 850 staff redundant from mid-2027 as the carrier embraces artificial intelligence and offshores some activities to India under a deal with Accenture to overhaul IT systems. Chief executive Vanessa Hudson reported the scale and speed of change driven by AI is unprecedented. The airline is also preparing its largest fleet renewal, adding 31 aircraft in the coming financial year after 17 in the previous one.
The initial wave of cuts will primarily impact headquarters-based corporate staff in Finance, Procurement, Human Resources and Marketing. The majority of the axed positions are located at the Qantas headquarters in Mascot, Sydney. Hudson reported the carrier currently operates more than 1,000 legacy applications built up over decades that struggle to integrate.
The Australian Services Union expressed deep shock and reported that Qantas management directly promised staff months prior that there were no active plans to offshore Australian jobs. The union intends to contest the broad offshoring of local skills. Qantas stated it will attempt to redeploy as many affected workers into other areas of the group as possible.
Vanessa Hudson shared “The carrier currently operates more than 1,000 legacy applications built up over decades that struggle to integrate, and the move is designed to modernise their digital footprint and significantly accelerate the airline’s use of artificial intelligence.”
