Qantas’ decision to sack 6000 staff members and tap the market for $1.9 billion in fresh capital is a crystal clear sign that the COVID-19 crisis will continue bulldozing the global economy for a while yet.

The global airline industry is constantly moving from crisis to crisis, although many would argue it has never faced a challenge as formidable as COVID-19. Aviation expert and Chairman Emeritus of CAPA – Centre for Aviation Peter Harbison says Alan Joyce is the right person to lead Qantas through this period of deep dislocation.

“One of the things you’ve got to say about Alan Joyce over the last decade is that he’s proven himself – without overstatement – as probably the best airline CEO in the world, in terms of being able to handle things,

“What he’s done today is shown that they are planning ahead, they’re not just doing incremental stuff,”

Mr Harbison points out that it was only a month ago when Alan Joyce publicly stated that Qantas would not need to raise additional capital to get through this crisis, proof that COVID time moves quickly.

Click play to hear the full interview between Peter Harbison and Brooke Corte: