Qantas hires McKinsey troubleshooters to fix late-flights issue

Qantas Airways Ltd. called in consulting firm McKinsey & Co. to help get more flights leaving and arriving on time as new Chief Executive Officer Vanessa Hudson addresses the airline’s reliability issues.

McKinsey is working on a 12-week project focused on punctuality and operational efficiency, according to Qantas. The airline has struggled to keep to its schedules since the skies reopened after the pandemic.

Hudson replaced longtime CEO Alan Joyce in September after a string of crises at the Australian airline, including allegations by the antitrust watchdog that Qantas sold tickets on thousands of flights it had already decided to cancel. She has since increased spending on major customer bugbears such as on-board catering, call-center staffing and loyalty-point flight redemptions.

Only 70% of Qantas flights departed on schedule in December, with even fewer — 68% — arriving on time, according to the latest government data. The figures at Jetstar, Qantas’ low-cost airline, were even worse. Cancellations were also higher than average.

McKinsey is at least the second major consulting firm hired by Qantas in recent months. Boston Consulting Group late last year started mapping out areas of focus, such as removing customer pain points and making the airline easier to deal with.