The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is currently down by 1.5% after having a difficult weekend of travel.
Qantas is Australia's largest airline. But that also means it handles the greatest number of passengers.
What happened over the Easter weekend?
According to reporting by various media, including The Age, Qantas has been on the receiving end of "severe criticism" from customers as the airline faced significant delays and cancelled flights.
The Age reported there were:
Uncleared toilet tanks on planes and no worker immediately on hand to pump out the waste. Passengers claiming they were offered latex gloves to eat warm food after no cutlery was loaded onto the aircraft. Broken seats, lost luggage, two-hour, three-hour, four-hour delays.
Why did this happen?
It was reported that there weren't enough captains or first officers for all of the flights. The airline was also reportedly short on crew.
Another problem for travellers was delays with ground security, which is the responsibility of the airports. Many security guards reportedly called in sick and a third of passengers were required to have their bags rechecked.
The Age reported that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce defended the delays, saying it was because of staff shortages due to COVID and "customers not being match fit for travel".
In a media release, the Business Council of Australia said that the workforce in some airports was 40% lower than before COVID-19.
However, a former Qantas executive said that the airline simply wasn't prepared for the holiday. The Age reported the unnamed executive's comments:
Why were they not prepared? They knew they had sold well, they knew they had increased capacity. They should have had training in place for their staff who had not been working during the past two years. It's a real shame.
In one way it's fantastic that people want to travel again and demand is that high, but it's also terrible to see these scenes at the airports caused by a lack of preparedness.
What next for the Qantas share price?
One of the latest opinions on Qantas shares comes from Ord Minnett. It currently rates the ASX share as a buy with a price target of $5.95. That implies a potential upside of around 10%. The broker appreciates the focus of the fleet renewal on planes that use less fuel.
The broker thinks that Qantas can return to profit in FY24 after a few years of disruption.
Ord Minnett's projections suggest the Qantas share price is valued at 11x FY23's estimated earnings. There is also a possibility of a return to shareholder payouts in FY23.
