From the CEO

By now you’ve probably watched the inflight safety video on this flight.

There aren’t too many airlines around the world using mullets, moustaches and miniskirts in their safety videos but not too many airlines have been flying for as long as Qantas has.

Our new video tells the story of a couple of pioneering Australians who began an airline – Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services – in outback Queensland in 1920 that’s evolved to be one of the world’s most recognisable and trusted carriers.

The video takes passengers through decades of inflight innovation, cabin design and fashion, which mirrored the trends over the years. Each of the uniforms is an original, as is the Avro aircraft and the Ford Model T in the opening scene.

For the 1970s upper-deck lounge on our 747s, we went to a retired 747-200 in the Mojave Desert in the United States, took the aircraft’s original wall panels and flew them back to Australia to re-create the space. Our current pilots and cabin crew are featured playing their roles from each era. There’s also a cameo by Alastair Fysh, the grandson of Qantas co-founder Hudson Fysh. And for the first time, we’ve included an acknowledgment of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander traditional custodians of our land and skies.

The primary purpose of this video is to communicate an important safety message and we know from our previous efforts that creating something interesting with a touch of humour is the best way to get people’s attention every time they fly.

While the fashion and aircraft may have changed over the past 100 years, our commitment to safety has not. As the video explains, it was a Qantas employee, Jack Grant, who invented the inflatable escape slide that’s now standard on aircraft around the world.

We often say Qantas is the Spirit of Australia and through our new safety video we’re incredibly proud to share our intertwined history with the tens of millions of customers who fly with us each year.

Enjoy your flight.