From the CEO

We alWays worry about leaving our bag or passport on an aircraft – I’ve done both – but we often don’t think about what else we’re leaving behind. During an inflight meal service, a typical Qantas passenger might be presented with a cardboard meal box, a set of singleuse cutlery, a drink stirrer, a plastic drink cup and a coffee cup. And they probably have a paper boarding pass in their pocket and a plastic frequent flyer card in their wallet. Multiply all that by 50 million – the number of passengers Qantas and Jetstar fly each year – and you get a real sense of the amount of material we use and the waste we generate. It’s the equivalent weight of 80 fully loaded 747s every year. Qantas has done a lot over the years to reduce our impact on the environment. We’re committed to cutting CO2 emissions from aviation to 50 per cent of 2005 levels by 2050. We’re replacing our older aircraft with ones that are more fuel-efficient. And we operate the world’s biggest airline carbon offset scheme – other large companies even ask us to manage the purchase of credits on their behalf. But we won’t stop there. Which is why we’ve announced a new goal. Qantas will become the first airline group in the world to cut 75 per cent of its landfill waste. We’ll do it by recycling, reusing and composting products and we’ll do it by the end of 2021. In the process, we’ll cut back 100 million single-use plastic items every year by the end of 2020, including about 30 million cutlery packs and 20 million coffee cups. To be honest, this is an ambitious plan. It’s more than any airline has committed to and it will take a lot of work. But I’m confident we’ll get there because our teams – particularly the cabin crew – see firsthand how many single-use items we go through every day. They’ve called for change and so have our customers. Our job is to deliver it over the next few years. Wherever you’re headed today, have a great flight and thanks for choosing Qantas.