The Airline Rort

The wealth The Airline Rort moves offshore.

Gas revenue foregone · since 2022/07/01

A$68,017,708,800

▲ ~A$537/sec · Punter's Politics / Rort tracking, since 1 Jul 2022

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THE RORT · LIVING MODEL OF POWER · CASE FILECASE OPEN — TRACKING

CASE FILE · CORPORATEARTICLES · 8

The Airline Rort

STATUS · Ongoing · unresolvedA$2,356,833,024

A duopoly for most of 35 years. Eight challengers tried to break it; every one failed or was absorbed. Fares stay above pre-COVID levels while the regulator names fixes no one implements.

01 / The evidence chain

01The fare 02The duopoly 03The Qatar block 04Who owns the airports 05Alan Joyce and the politicians 06The frequent flyer financial machine 07What the media covered 08What would fix it

02 / Who's named

The ACCCFEDERAL REGULATOR · 8 QantasCOMPANY · AVIATION · 8 Duopoly & ConcentrationMECHANISM · 4 Alan JoycePERSON · EXECUTIVE · 3 Anthony AlbanesePERSON · POLITICIAN · 3 The Chairman's LoungeMECHANISM · LOBBYING · 3 Virgin AustraliaCOMPANY · AVIATION · 3 Sydney AirportCOMPANY · INFRASTRUCTURE · 3 WoolworthsCOMPANY · SUPERMARKETS · 1 News CorpCOMPANY · MEDIA · 1

03 / The money

~5,000 membersThe Qantas Chairman's Lounge includes approximately 90 per cent of federal parliamentarians. Membership is free, by personal invitation of the CEO, and includes consistent access to upgrades on Qantas flights.SOURCE · Joe Aston, The Chairman's Lounge (2024); WSWS [8]Alan Joyce and the politicians The sequenceA$2.7 billion in COVID taxpayer support; illegal sacking of 1,700 workers; record profits restored; Qatar's flights blocked on Qantas's lobbying; upgrade scandal revealed. Each element legal, declared, or unprovable. The system doesn't need to be corrupt to produce corrupt outcomes.SOURCE · [12][13][14][10][1]Alan Joyce and the politicians Sole LCCJetstar is now, two decades later, the sole low-cost carrier in the Australian domestic market, following the exit of Tiger in 2020 and Bonza in 2024. Its profit has grown accordingly: EBIT up 53.7 per cent after Bonza's collapse. [10,12]SOURCE · ACCC, May 2025The duopoly 94.4%Qantas Group and Virgin Australia together held 94.4 per cent of all domestic passenger carriage as of March 2025. Bonza's collapse in April 2024 marked the second failed attempt at a third domestic player in a decade. [11]SOURCE · Switzer Daily / ACCC, March 2025The duopoly 62%Morning peak take-off slots at Sydney Airport (6am–11am weekdays, mid-2024): Qantas held 103 slots (62 per cent); Virgin held 57 (34 per cent); Rex held just 7 (4 per cent). [6]SOURCE · Australian Financial Review / Senate inquiry, 2024The duopoly 5 barriersThe duopoly is protected by at least five structural barriers: peak slot control at Sydney Airport, network depth across connecting routes, loyalty program lock-in across 15 million Australians, dominance of the high-margin corporate travel segment, and capital requirements that demand sustained loss-making periods to overcome. Any new entrant must navigate all five simultaneously against incumbents who have advantages in all five.SOURCE · ACCC / Senate inquiry analysisThe duopoly +9.6%Airfares rose 9.6 per cent in March 2025, described as 'a pattern that may become familiar in a low-competition environment.' [11]SOURCE · Switzer Daily / ACCC, March 2025The duopoly 39.6c vs 19.2cPrice per kilometre with one carrier versus three carriers on Australian domestic routes. The fare is almost halved by adding competition, not by improving operations.SOURCE · Federal competition taskforce data, January 2024 [4]The fare

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