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Dear readers,
No long-time subscribers should have been surprised last month when Qantas said it will begin retiring its 10 remaining Airbus A380s in 2028, about four years ahead of schedule. Besides Emirates, few airlines like it much anymore — even if they rarely say so publicly, lest they draw the ire of the traveling public.
Cam Wallace, CEO of Qantas International and Freight, telegraphed this move two years ago when he conveyed his (at best) lukewarm feelings for the aircraft in this newsletter. “Our customers really enjoy flying on the aircraft,” he told me.
Wallace is a loyal subscriber to this business-focused publication, and he knows my readers would be far more impressed with tidbits about the airplane’s commercial success. When the nicest thing he had to say about the plane was ‘people like it,’ I suspected something was amiss.
Competitors know this too. A commercial executive at another airline told me a couple of weeks ago after Qantas’ announcement: “It’s loved by customers, but it’s not loved by anyone who has P&L responsibility.”
Like most of you, I’m an aviation romantic, and I saw great promise two decades ago in the A380. But that time is gone for all but one airline. As someone who likes to see airlines make money, I say good riddance to the superjumbo. It is easy to blame high fuel prices for the quicker retirement schedule, but to his credit, Wallace didn’t hide behind that fig leaf. “It’s not the primary reason,” he told me.