Flight AB1031 touched down in Mackay at 6:54pm on Tuesday night on Bonza’s fourth Boeing 737 MAX, VH-UKH, nicknamed ‘Malc’. The launch of the Tullamarine–Mackay route caps off what Bonza says is the biggest route map rollout in Australian aviation history, covering 27 routes to 17 destinations across three states.

The agency has suspended the use of its DJI drones, which have been blacklisted by the US military and have also been suspended by Australia’s Department of Defence, Home ­Affairs chief operating officer Justine Saunders confirmed in Senate estimates this week.

TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said the forecast was the result of the airline “bleeding dry workers, passengers and the taxpaying public”, and lambasted Qantas for increasing its share buyback scheme by $100 million.

Parker is one of the key figures in the consolidation of the US aviation market in the early 2000s. He served as CEO of American Airlines from 2013 to 2021 and has more than 35 years of aviation experience, having worked in airlines since 1986 and in CEO positions from 2001 onwards.