Affiliate And Subsidiary
Qantas Airlines: Flagship Carrier For Australia
The national airlines of Australia is Qantas. Maintaining its main hub at Sydney International Airport, Quantas also has smaller hubs at Melbourne, Perth, and Brisbane. It runs international flights into Brisbane, Perth, Singapore, London, and Los Angeles.
The world’s second oldest airlines in continuous operation and the oldest airline in the English-speaking world, Quantas was founded in 1920. It is a member of the Oneworld alliance, one of the world’s largest airline alliance programs.
Qantas is both privately held and of the world’s very most profitable airlines. Voted third best in the world by the World Airline Awards in 2008, Qantas and its subsidiaries maintain hundreds of Boeing and Airbus planes, naming each after Australian aviators, Australian cities, Australian cities, Greek gods and goddesses, and stars.
The name Qantas, always spelled without a “u,” is an acronym for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.”
Adventure seekers who want to Antarctica can fly Qantas charters organized by Croydon Travel. Qantas flew its first Antarctic sight-seeing trips in 1977. These summer trips were suspended in 1979 after the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 on Mt. Erebus, but restarted in 1994. Antarctic flights now require specific crew training in polar operations so that pilots and crew can handle whiteouts such as those that contributed to the 1979 disaster.
Qantas rewards frequent fliers with points based on distance flown, with additional points for travel in first and business class. Miles may be earned and spent on both Qantas and Oneworld alliance carriers. Following criticism of its rewards program in 2008 over the unavailability of reward seats, Qantas introduced Any Seat rewards, allowing members to pay for any seat on a flight, and Points Plus Pay, allowing members to qualify for travel with a combination of points and cash payments.
Qantas was the first airline to allow mobile phone use during flights. Also, the airline provides wireless internet as well as seat-back access to email and web browsing. The Australian carrier also has an extensive in-flight entertainment system. Some planes use Total Entertainment, which is an audio/video on demand system. Other planes use the Mainscreen System, were drop-down video menus offer either recent films or television programs, depending on long the flight is.
Qantas recently announced its scheme to reduce its carbon footprint. It now allows passengers to fly carbon neutral, and to pay for their contribution to the carbon offset plan in either cash or frequent flier points. Qantas donates the proceeds of the program to verified offset projects with a government-certified Green Friendly certification. Olympian and swimmer Ian Thorpe and professional golfer Greg Norman are the program’s spokesmen.
BUSINESS FRENCH = affiliate, subsidiary, subsidiary
