‘Incendiary and baffling’: Qantas backflipping on meat-only meals only made things worse, expert says

Qantas backflipping on a pandemic-era policy that saw vegetarians and other diet-restricted passengers go hungry on domestic flights has plunged the airline into “a further likeability deficit”, an expert says.

The latest headache for the embattled airline kicked off when Planet Ark founder Jon Dee was offered a serving of chicken pie without an alternative by staff a little over a week ago.

“I’m on the Adelaide to Sydney flight – I’m informed that #Qantas no longer serve vegetarian food on domestic flights (except Perth),” Dee tweeted.

“What kind of airline stops offering vegetarian food to its passengers? It was chicken pie or nothing tonight.

“Crew said ‘one size fits all’  … Is Alan Joyce deliberately trying to run @Qantas into the ground?.”

Senator Penny Allman-Payne pointed out that other dietary requirements, like gluten or dairy free, were not accommodated on the airline’s shorter domestic flights either.

In a statement, Qantas explained that it “simplified” meal offerings on flights shorter than 3.5 hours at the beginning of the pandemic – including on its bustling Sydney to Melbourne route.

The simplification meant the same snack would be offered to each passenger. A Qantas spokesperson conceded that not all snack offerings were vegetarian, though “many” were.

But it seems Qantas swiftly heeded the customer backlash.

Executive manager of product and service Phil Capps said the airline was in the middle of a total menu refresh with newer vegetarian options on the way.

“We’ve heard the message loud and clear about having vegetarian offerings on all of our flights and so we’re making that change as a priority,” Capps said.

‘A likeability deficit’ for Qantas

The swift response could be interpreted as either a PR crisis masterstroke, or a sure sign the besieged airline doesn’t have the capacity for any more crises, in what has shaped up to be a horror year for air travel.

Managing director of Pure Public Relations, Phoebe Netto said, all things considered, it’s probably the latter.

“One of the reasons why brands want a strong reputation of customer care and being upstanding is to be in credit for the bad times,” Netto, a crisis PR expert, explained.

“Qantas was in a trust and respect deficit, so the outrage was not only a backlash against the ridiculous decision to not offer vegetarian meals on some flights, it was the accumulative effect of multiple decisions that showed disregard for the experience of its customers.”

And the fallout (which reverberated worldwide) won’t be so easy for already irate Qantas customers to forget, Netto warns.

“For Qantas’ increasingly maligned brand, this decision was incendiary and quite frankly, baffling,” she continued.

“Given the large percentage of customers who would require a vegetarian option, this gave the impression of being out of touch, or worse, uncaring.”

Vegetarians and vegans make up 12.1% of the population of Australia, according to Roy Morgan – accounting for 2.5 million people.

“In some instances, a business moving fast to backflip on an unpopular decision earns more trust and loyalty credits than if they never made the decision in the first place,” Netto continued.

“But because this was another strike against its name, it will leave Qantas in a further likeability deficit.”

Dee tagged Virgin Australia in a subsequent tweet to enquire about vegetarian options on board the rival airline’s flights, and the social team was quick with a response.

“We offer an array of meal and snack options on our flights to suit various dietary requirements,” a staff member who signed off ‘CQ’ replied.

“We are not currently offering halal and kosher options. See you onboard soon.”