The Qantas Centenary Past. Present. Future.
From evacuating Australians during emergencies at home and abroad to supporting grassroots projects in rural areas, Qantas is there. We look at the airline’s community work.
In 1974 Qantas made history when it evacuated 674 passengers (plus 23 crew) from Darwin after Cyclone Tracy – setting a world record for carrying the most passengers on board a Boeing 747. Pilot Donn Howe, who flew the empty jumbo from Sydney into Darwin for the mercy mission, recalled that the strips of runway lights at the airport were the only lights left working in the city. The cyclone tore the Northern Territory capital apart that Christmas, killing 71 people and destroying more than 70 per cent of its buildings. Over 30,000 people were evacuated, with the passengers on the Qantas rescue flight forced to share seats to fit as many people as possible. “It was a case of get on and hold on,” Howe told The Northern Territory News.
The airline has helped to rescue Australians during recent overseas emergencies, including from India during the 2008 terrorist attacks, Cairo in the midst of the Arab Spring in 2010 and the 2013 riots in Thailand.
During the summer bushfire season, Qantas transported firefighters and equipment around the country, as well as donating $1 million to bushfire relief efforts and fundraising on flights and in airport terminals. Qantas employees also helped on the frontline in both paid and volunteer firefighting positions (see page 24). The airline provided similar assistance when the Black Saturday fires razed parts of Victoria in 2009.