Qantas Empire Airlines?

Analysing the Qantas-BA merger plan

When news broke in late November that Qantas and British Airways – on again off again airliner partners – were seeking an equity marriage, it was greeted with bouquets by lay commentators, brickbats by industry veterans and an overwhelming patriotic NO from the general public.

Revelations of the merger discussions coincided with both the publication of the government’s National Aviation Policy Statement or “Green Paper” which proposed relaxing the foreign ownership rules for Australia’s airlines and Alan Joyce’s second day on the job as Qantas CEO.