Qantas has marked its 100th anniversary in one of the most challenging years the Flying Kangaroo has ever faced.
Beginning as a mail service for outback farmers in Queensland and the Northern Territory, the country's premier airline on Monday turned 100 years old and used the significant milestone to thank its past and present staff for connecting Australians to the world.
Qantas has been forced to significantly scale back its planned centenary celebrations due to the coronavirus pandemic but will mark the milestone with a low-level flyover of the Sydney Harbour on Monday evening.
In light of the pandemic which has decimated the aviation industry, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said the health crisis reaffirmed the values of the airline in always assisting Australians wherever they are in the world.
"Flying to help Australians in trouble is a core part of our identity as the national carrier," Mr Joyce said.
"This year alone we've operated over 100 repatriation flights for the federal government to bring people home from COVID hot spots."
All crews who have worked on COVID-19 repatriated flights were volunteers.
Qantas has suffered significant financial wounds due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, incurring a $4 billion hit to revenue and being forced to axe more than 8500 jobs from its workforce.
The airline is hoping by Christmas to have domestic flight operations at above 60 per cent of pre-coronavirus levels.
"We're in a very good position compared relatively to the rest of the airlines in the world," Mr Joyce said on breakfast TV on Monday.
"Once we get to a 50 per cent of our domestic schedule, we'll stop burning through cash, which we think will happen around Christmas and allow us then to start repairing our balance sheet."
Retrospective: Qantas had been looking forward to the centeneray celebrations. Photo / Supplied, Qantas
Mr Joyce also noted the emerging COVID-19 cluster in South Australia highlighted the ongoing uncertainty sparked by the virus, but he was adamant the airline would adapt to the crisis.
"Qantas has survived 100 years because we've adapted to the environment that we have been in at the time. I want to make sure that this great iconic brand survives the next 100 years," he said.
Qantas is the oldest operating airline in the world and was started by entrepreneurs Hudson Fysh, Paul McGuinness and Fergus McMaster in 1920 in western Queensland.
It has assisted in disasters such as evacuating people in Darwin following Cyclone Tracey in 1974 and maintaining vital air links during the Second World War.
100 years ago: Qantas Ltd is the world's third oldest airline. Photo / Supplied
"Around the world, Qantas is probably best known for its safety record, endurance flying and long list of aviation firsts," Mr Joyce said.
"But for Australians, there's nothing quite like seeing the flying kangaroo at the airport waiting to take you home. We hope to be doing a lot more of that in the months and years ahead."
A difficult year: Qantas Airbus A380s, join Air New Zealand Boeing 777s in the the desert at the Southern California storage facility. Photo / Alex Crail, Supplied
