The airline can no longer use selective statistics to claim airfares are barely higher than before COVID. And it can’t keep going with the line that service issues are a thing of the past when Qantas remains the most complained about business in the country, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Based on the customer criticism that finds its way into social and other media, there are some high-priority pain points that Hudson needs to address.

She needs to make it easier for customers to use their COVID credits or to have these fares refunded in cash. Dropping the sunset clause on the use of these credits isn’t enough.

Saying that refunds and credits are available – but making it too difficult to use them – is almost as frustrating as being denied the opportunity to retrieve them.

And for those who use credits to reinstate the same booking, Qantas should not be asking for customers to pay double. Any defence of this practice of charging higher fares for the same flight (which relies on other airlines doing the same thing) misses the point.

Qantas customers bought those tickets for a particular flight in good faith – asking them to pay more because the airline was unable to fly leaves a bad taste. The other area of customer dissatisfaction is their inability to redeem points booking classic rewards, which appear to be as rare as hen’s teeth.

The prescribed changes will cost the airline revenue and profit, but it’s a bitter pill that Hudson may have to swallow.

So, this listening tour that Hudson has embarked on, talking to staff and passengers, needs to be a genuine exercise in the company moving decisively to clean up its act. Qantas’ customers have to know that their frustrations are being taken seriously.

And the early signs are good. Maybe this is the reason Hudson takes the helm at Qantas with so much goodwill on her side.

One aggrieved customer, who emailed me this week with a complaint and then subsequently emailed Hudson directly, had a pleasant resolution.

Hudson responded to the customer quickly and resolved the problem. That’s a pretty good start.

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