Qantas not planning to merge with another carrier in the next decade

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce stated the carrier has no plans for a merger with another carrier within the next decade, believing the "time is absolutely not right'', due to commercial and regulatory barriers (Dow Jones/Sydney Morning Herald, 05-Aug-09). Mr Joyce added Qantas has also suspended plans to float its frequent flyer programme, stating the programme's value did not reflect the carrier's share price.

Qantas: "It's [floating its frequent flyer programme] definitely off the radar screen for us…It's going to take a lot longer than we originally thought [until a merger with another carrier]. It's still the way the industry will go, but I'm not sure it's going to be in the next few years; it's going to be 10 years-plus…We see liberalisation as a prerequisite for this to fully occur, and this is going to take some time in the region. Rather than putting all the management effort into trying to make one of these big deals happen...we need to focus management effort on managing the core business.'' Alan Joyce, CEO. Source: Dow Jones/Sydney Morning Herald, 05-Aug-09.