The creation of four separate businesses under the Qantas brand has been proposed by a near complete review of Qantas’ structure by chief executive Geoff Dixon and chief financial officer Peter Gregg.
Qantas is planning the restructure after an $11 billion private equity bid by a consortium led by Macquarie Bank and the Texas Pacific group failed earlier this year.
Of the four new businesses, “Freight Co” would be a stand alone operation, which would take equity stakes in the air freight operators Australian Air Express and Startrack express.
The proposal also includes a plan to set up a “Qantas Lite” operation, which would own the main airline and Jetstar brands and would be responsible for its staff and ground operations.
There would be a “Fleet Co” business that would own and lease back the group of 154 planes valued at $4.4 billion.
“Loyalty Co” would be the new subsidiary in charge of the frequent flyer program.
It’s expected Qantas would retain 100 per cent ownership of all four businesses, but new investors could be brought in.
Trucking tycoon Lindsay Fox’s Linfox could be a possible partner while Canada’s Aeroplan has been suggested as a likely investor in “Loyalty Co”, Fairfax said.
Qantas declined to comment to Logistics Magazine.
Source: Fairfax Media