Qantas will cut about 850 corporate jobs in Australia and hand the work to consulting firm Accenture, with most of the affected roles moving to India, as the airline accelerates a technology overhaul built around artificial intelligence. Chief executive Vanessa Hudson told staff the news in an internal email on Tuesday, 10 November 2026, saying she was sorry for the uncertainty it would bring.

The changes will be phased in over the coming years, with the first changes expected by mid-2027. The roles affected are in corporate functions rather than flying operations, so pilots and cabin crew are not part of this announcement. Qantas employs about 28,000 people in Australia and another 4,000 elsewhere, which means the cuts amount to roughly 3 per cent of its Australian workforce.

What the Accenture deal covers

Under the multi-year agreement, Accenture will take over parts of Qantas's back-office operations and modernise its back-end systems, processes and data. The first functions to move are finance, procurement, people and marketing. Accenture will deliver most of those services through its teams in India, with some of the work continuing to be delivered from Australia.

Qantas said the deal was about modernising its information technology systems to make them more efficient, and about redesigning corporate functions to reduce duplication and free staff for higher-value work. The airline has been investing in technology and artificial intelligence, and Hudson told staff that standing still was not an option as the industry changes.

What Qantas has not said is how many of the 850 roles will be replaced by automation and how many will simply be carried out by Accenture staff overseas. The airline has also not put a figure on the savings it expects from the deal.

Union reaction and the August dispute

The Australian Services Union, which represents many of the affected staff, criticised the decision and said it was meeting affected members on the day of the announcement. Union officials said Qantas had told them in August that there was no plan to move Australian jobs overseas, after reports emerged that month of an internal programme known as Project iQ that could shift up to 1,000 back-office roles to India.

At the time, Qantas said it was only in early talks and that no formal agreement was in place and no decisions had been made. The union said the November announcement showed that assurance had not held, and it has called on the airline to explain why the work is being sent offshore.

Qantas said it would consult affected employees and their union over the coming months, and that the outcomes for individual staff had not yet been fully worked through.

What happens next

The first phase of the changes is expected to be in place by mid-2027, starting with finance, procurement, people and marketing roles. Further phases will follow over the coming years as more services move to Accenture and are reshaped with automation and artificial intelligence.

The announcement comes as Qantas continues to reshape its business after a difficult period for its reputation, including criticism over customer service and industrial relations. For the staff affected, the coming months will bring consultation with the airline and the union before any individual decisions are made. For the wider Australian aviation industry, the deal is a sign of how quickly airlines are turning to outsourcing and artificial intelligence to cut the cost of running their corporate operations. Sources: BBC News and Mediaweek.