Category Archives: Qantas

Hackers leak Qantas data containing 5 million customer records after ransom deadline passes

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Hacker collective Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters demanded payment in return for preventing the stolen data of nearly 40 companies from being shared

Hackers say they have leaked the personal records of 5 million Qantas customers on the dark web, after a ransom deadline set by the cybercriminals passed.

The airline is one of more than 40 firms globally caught up in the hack, reported to contain up to 1 billion customer records.

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Qantas contacted by suspected cyber criminal but airline won’t confirm if hacking ransom demanded

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Hacked airline says Australian federal police have been engaged but it ‘won’t be commenting any further on the detail of the contact’

A potential cyber criminal has made contact with Qantas, the airline has confirmed, after a major attack on its network exposed the personal records of up to 6 million customers.

In a statement on Monday evening, a spokesperson for Qantas said the Australian federal police (AFP) had been engaged but the airline would not confirm if a ransom was being sought for the compromised personal data.

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Australian passenger disruption as airlines delay or cancel flights after Iran’s attack on US base in Qatar

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Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong said there had been ‘disruptions to flights with temporary airspace closures in the region’

The Albanese government and airlines are warning passengers in Australia of flight delays and disruptions after Iran’s strike on a US base in Qatar resulted in several countries closing their airspace.

In a post to X on Tuesday morning, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said there had been “disruptions to flights with temporary airspace closures in the region”.

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Sydney’s second airport is nearly built. But will the airlines and people come?

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Victoria’s Avalon has struggled to take wing, but some project Sydney’s new 24-hour, high-tech airport will one day match Heathrow for passenger numbers

It has been talked about for decades, and a year and a half out from its opening, Western Sydney International is looking more and more like an airport.

Last week, press gathered to mark the completion of its runway.

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Soaring air fares between Melbourne and Sydney see travellers take 11-hour train

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Exclusive: Seats on Sydney-Melbourne train service regularly sell out over holiday period, as one-way flights to Tullamarine average almost $500

The 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne train has become so popular services are selling out – even with extra carriages added – as travellers seek alternatives to an aviation duopoly that is stronger than ever, with carriers charging $900 for one-way economy tickets.

Ridership on the Sydney-Melbourne rail corridor has exploded in recent months, with 203,000 passenger journeys between July and December. Data for the 2023-24 financial year revealed 393,000 passenger journeys, a 14% increase on the previous year and just 7,000 shy of the annual record.

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Australian airlines more delayed than foreign competitors, but government decides not to nudge laws

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Experts say lack of competition in Australia’s airline market is a likely factor behind prevalence of delays

More than one in four flights operated by major Australian airlines in 2024 arrived at their destinations late, with local punctuality rates lagging significantly behind average carriers in comparable countries.

Experts say a lack of competition in Australia’s airline market is a likely factor behind the prevalence of delays, and that the Albanese government missed a golden opportunity to nudge local carriers into performing better when it decided to omit a cash compensation scheme for delayed and cancelled flights from its landmark aviation reforms.

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Flights to Bali cancelled after volcano spews dangerous ash cloud 9km into air

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Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin flights in and out of Australia were cancelled after Mount Lewotobi Laki-laki erupted

Three Australian airlines have cancelled flights to and from Bali after a volcanic eruption near the Indonesian holiday spot created a dangerous ash cloud.

The groundings affected Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, leaving passengers stranded.

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Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in Penrith hotel – as it happened

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Meteorologists are forecasting that thunderstorms will develop over large swathes of the country every day this week, and likely into next.

Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has outlined the forecast as follows:

Early in the week, showers and thunderstorms will target central, eastern, southern and southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday. Severe thunderstorms are likely in parts of NSW and [Queensland] on both days and are also possible in other states.

Storms will become more focussed on a broad arc stretching across Australia’s eastern and northern states and down into the WA interior through the middle of the week. Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will all be at risk of severe thunderstorm activity on Wednesday.

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No consequences likely after Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie failed to disclose flight upgrades

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Independent David Pocock calls for disclosure reform while Liberal James Paterson says many politicians don’t update the log fast enough

Labor is unlikely to pursue formal Senate action against the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie for not disclosing 16 flight upgrades over her time in parliament, despite parliamentary rules on travel requiring disclosures within 35 days.

The independent senator David Pocock said it highlighted the need for reforming parliamentary transparency rules.

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Bridget McKenzie updates register and apologises after failing to declare 16 flight upgrades

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Shadow transport spokesperson belatedly discloses Qantas and Virgin upgrades after it was revealed she failed to declare offers of better seats

Bridget McKenzie did not declare 16 flight upgrades received over the last nine years, with the Nationals senator apologising and belatedly updating her official register of interests to disclose numerous instances of business class travel which had not been declared as per parliamentary rules.

Two instances were in July and August this year, just a few months before the shadow transport spokesperson claimed to have never been offered a single upgrade on a Qantas flight. Another five upgrades were on personal flights between Australia and New Zealand, including four in 2018 while she was a cabinet minister.

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Australia news live: PwC reveals it sacked eight staff over data breaches; Perth man dies after being taken to police watch house

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Court to rule in Pauline Hanson-Mehreen Faruqi case

A federal court judge is ready to rule on whether Pauline Hanson made a racial slur when she told Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi to go back to Pakistan.

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Qantas and Virgin among 1,200 major companies that paid no income tax in Australia in 2022-23

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ATO finds 31% of large businesses reported nil tax paid as many companies deducted losses and used offsets to dial their bills down to zero

A major streaming service, media outlets, big airlines and a pizza chain are among more than 1,200 large companies that paid no income tax in 2022-23, a new ATO report reveals, as many businesses deducted losses and used offsets to dial their tax bills down to zero.

Netflix’s Australian operations generated more than $1.15bn in income in the 2023 financial year, documents show, but had no tax payable.

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Anthony Albanese denies ever calling ex-Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to ask for an upgrade

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Prime minister issues statement saying ‘all travel has been appropriately declared’ after allegations made in new book over politicians’ travel

Anthony Albanese has denied ever calling Alan Joyce for free Qantas flight upgrades during his time as transport minister and opposition leader.

The rebuke comes days after the claims were made in a new book by former Nine newspaper columnist Joe Aston, alleging a number of federal politicians had regularly received free business or first-class upgrades as part of their membership to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, described as the “speakeasy for Australia’s ruling class”.

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Peter Dutton says PM should refer himself to corruption watchdog over Qantas upgrades

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Prime minister’s office says opposition leader is making a ‘pathetic attempt at creating a headline’ over flight upgrades from 2009 to 2019

Peter Dutton says Anthony Albanese should refer himself to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) after questioning whether the prime minister’s ties to Qantas influenced his government’s decision not to allow more Qatar Airways flights into the country.

It follows allegations in a book that Albanese had personally liaised with the former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce about obtaining free flight upgrades during his time as transport minister and opposition leader.

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WiseTech shares surge after CEO stands down – as it happened

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Dutton and Shorten weigh in on Queensland state election

The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, both spoke with the Today show earlier from Queensland, before the election.

He’s focused on the issues which affect Queenslanders: housing, health, cheaper transport and of course tackling youth crime. So we’ll find out soon enough who’s going to win.

The fact is that it’s time for a change in Queensland and law and order is out of control.

Well, yes, he did. He did three days ago and, despite that, the government’s scare campaign continues.

The scare campaign on a sensitive issue that has been run, quite frankly, crosses the line, and we’re better than that as Queenslanders … There won’t be changes to abortion laws and Queenslanders need to know that.

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Qantas ordered to pay $170,000 to three workers illegally sacked at start of pandemic

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Judge rebukes airline for ‘vast legal costs’ expended to defend claims of illegally firing baggage handlers

A federal court judge has rebuked Qantas for the “vast legal costs” expended to defend claims it illegally sacked almost 1,700 baggage handlers in 2020, as former workers move a step closer towards a compensation payout.

Justice Michael Lee ruled on Monday that three test cases should receive $30,000, $40,000 and $100,000. They suffered varying amounts of “non-economic loss”, the court ruled.

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Is it really possible to fly ‘carbon neutral’ with Qantas? A greenwashing complaint to the ACCC hopes to find out

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A spokesperson for the airline says it is doing ‘what we can with what’s available now’ after Environmental Defenders Office singles out ‘carbon neutral’ claim

Climate campaigners have asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to investigate whether “fly carbon neutral” and other sustainability claims by Qantas are misleading or deceptive.

The greenwashing complaint, filed by the Environmental Defenders Office on behalf of research and advocacy organisation Climate Integrity, urged the competition watchdog to investigate the airline’s marketing materials and the credibility of the company’s transition to net zero.

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Qantas apologises after R-rated movie played to passengers on Sydney to Tokyo flight

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Technical issues meant the film, starring Dakota Johnson, was played on all screens before it was swapped for a family-friendly movie

Qantas has apologised to passengers on a flight from Sydney to Japan after an R-rated film was played to the entire plane.

Passengers on the flight to Haneda were shown the start of Daddio, a 2023 R-rated film starring Dakota Johnson.

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Qantas engineers warn of ‘flight disruptions’ in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane as they walk off job over pay

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But the national carrier says contingencies are in place to prevent traveller chaos in capital cities on Monday morning

More than 1,000 Qantas engineers across Australia will walk off the job in industrial action they claim could kick the week off with peak-hour travel chaos, but the airline says it has contingencies in place and is not expecting any disruptions to travel.

Flights between 7am and 9am across three timezones on Monday morning are set to be affected in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

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Opposition leader calls for university’s leaders to quit – as it happened

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The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has joined an international push “to hold the Taliban to account” under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

Wong says:

We know the women and girls of Afghanistan are effectively being erased from public life by the various edicts the Taliban … have issued.

The steps we are taking with Germany, Canada and the Netherlands are unprecedented. We are intending to use the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, to which Afghanistan is a party, to take action.

If I can … say again to the Australian Lebanese community. This is a deeply distressing situation for so many of you. I know that there are many Australians in Lebanon. There are many Australians who have relatives, family and friends in Lebanon. I again urge Australians in Lebanon to leave now. There are flight cancelations and disruptions, and there is a risk that Beirut airport may close for an extended period of time.

Please do not wait for a preferred route. Please take the first option you can to leave. We continue to monitor the situation closely. We have been working with partners on contingency plans now for many months but I again say to anyone who any Australian who is in Lebanon: please leave now.

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