QANTAS: Project iQ — an Indian outsourcing plan under the cover of AI?

Qantas is considering, according to the AFR, an Accenture involving Artificial Intelligence (AI) program that would involve offshoring 1,000 jobs to India with the suitably futuristic title ‘Project iQ’.

Now, Qantas could benefit greatly from a digital makeover. Earlier this year I travelled across Canada with Air Canada, and their app provided me with details of when and by whom my luggage was loaded, and even notified me on my watch!

The positions being examined include work across finance, marketing, human resources and other back-office functions. Qantas insists discussions with Accenture remain at an early stage, with no agreement signed and no final decision made.

That may be technically correct. But you don’t normally give something a project name, appoint senior executives to run it and identify hundreds of potentially affected positions merely to pass the time between management meetings.

AI to the rescue

Qantas says the proposal is about accelerating its use of technology and artificial intelligence to modernise the business and produce better outcomes for customers and employees. But they could do that here with Australian-based staff. So, of course it comes down to cost and saving money to make more profit. Well, good. I am a Qantas shareholder after all, but don’t dress it up as being driven by customer service.

AI is being used by airlines to predict delays, schedule aircraft, improve maintenance, manage disruption and personalise offers. It’s realy good at that, given that AI essentially recognises patterns. My recent experience with Air Canada runs rings around Qantas’ customer-directed IT services.

Qantas has credited better use of technology and operational data with helping improve punctuality. In June 2026, it even managed to become the world’s most punctual major airline.

The airline argues that reducing administrative costs could allow it to employ more pilots, engineers, cabin crew and other customer-facing staff in Australia. It also points to its Adelaide innovation hub, expected to employ about 420 people.

That is all OK if we see the promised Australian jobs actually appear.

An awkward piece of Qantas history

Outsourcing is particularly sensitive territory for Qantas.

Under former chief executive Alan Joyce (whose book also got released today), the airline outsourced the jobs of 1,820 ground workers during the pandemic. The High Court found the action unlawful, Qantas agreed to pay AU$120 million in compensation, and the Federal Court later imposed an AU$90 million penalty.

That episode turned a supposed cost-saving exercise into an enormously expensive industrial-relations and reputational disaster. Project iQ therefore risks looking like a return to the Joyce-era playbook, even though the targeted office positions are mostly outside heavily unionised operational areas.

Off shore adds risk

Passengers may not care where a spreadsheet is prepared or a marketing campaign is assembled. They will care if offshoring creates additional layers between themselves and someone capable of solving a problem.

Back-office functions become very front-of-house when a refund disappears, points are incorrectly deducted, a booking fails or personal data is mishandled.

That last point is especially relevant after the 2025 cyberattack affecting six million Qantas customers. The AFR reports that the criminals targeted a Manila-based call centre. Off shoring does not automatically mean weaker security or poorer service. India has an enormous and highly skilled technology sector. But a transformation designed mainly around reducing labour costs can produce fragmented accountability and slower escalation.

2PAXfly Takeout

Vernessa Hudson better be right about this proposed off-shoring of jobs, otherwise Project iQ, could be her noose.

Qantas has spent three years repairing the damage caused by excessive cost-cutting, illegal outsourcing and a corporate culture that appeared to regard customers and workers as inconvenient expenses.

Sending up to 1,000 more jobs offshore may save money. Convincing Australians that it represents a better outcome for “customers and our people” will require more than adding the letters ‘AI’ to everything.

If you want to read more about the concerns around AI, then, find a copy of the recently released ‘The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life after AI‘ by Cory Doctorow. I’ve just started it, and it gives a great cynics/realists fiew of artificial inteligence and where it might take us