Remember the 10-year-old boy who wrote a letter to Qantas’ boss Alan Joyce in which he sought out tips on how to get his own international airline off the ground?
Well, after receiving the letter, Qantas’ Alan Joyce went against all the rules of competition and agreed to a meeting with his future rival, during which the airline bosses agreed it would be best to enter a new partnership.
In case you have absolutely no idea what we’re referring to, click here to read the original story.
Image: James Morgan
Now that everyone is caught up, Alex Jacquot, the ambitious 10-year-old and Founder of Oceania Express, along with 10-year-old Deputy Chief Executive, Wolf Stringer, and 7-year-old Head of Inflight Service, Mila Jacquot, went to Qantas’ HQ in Sydney where they struck a deal that most adults couldn’t even dream up.
After a private tour of Qantas’ Operations Centre, Alex, Wolf and Mila joined Alan Joyce, Olivia Wirth (CEO, Qantas Loyalty) and John Gissing (CEO, QantasLink) for a 30-minute meeting during which they discussed aircraft types, inflight catering, and the importance of loyalty programs. The group of airline executives also ran through ways to improve passenger comfort on ultra long-haul flights.
Image: James Morgan
Qantas was kind enough to also give Alex, Wolf and Mila a present to help get their airline off the ground, including a new logo, business cards and an artist impression of the Oceania Express Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The domain name oceaniaexpress.com.au has also been registered on Alex’s behalf.
Alex described the meeting with Qantas as a “big day for our little airline” and admitted that there’s still a lot for himself and his business partners to learn from the aviation world.
“We’ve got a lot to learn from them but they can learn from us, too. We’ve got some ideas about how to make long flights less boring. I like the Qantas inflight entertainment for kids but I think we can beat it.”
Alex Jacquot, Oceania Express Co-Founder
Since the public exchange of letters between the two CEOs, Qantas said it has received scores of notes from other children with a strong passion for air travel. As a result, Qantas has launched a ‘Qantas Future High Flyers’ program that will offer a select number of school children the opportunity to experience a day in the life at the Flying Kangaroo in Sydney.
Image: James Morgan
The competition is open to young aviators between seven to 12 and includes meetings with engineers, pilots and head office staff as well as an opportunity to share their thoughts on how the customer experience can be improved. The program will be timed with school holidays later in 2019.
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- READ: A 10-yr-old aspiring to start an airline wrote to Alan Joyce
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