Why Did Qantas Hire a Jet Lag Expert?
Photo Credit: Researchers at the University of Sydney have been working with Qantas to get the lighting right on the carrier's 17-hour flight from Perth to Sydney. Pictured is business class on the Boeing 787 flying the route. Qantas
Skift Take
Few airlines take marketing and public relations as seriously as Qantas. The airline should be commended for its efforts to persuade passengers they want to spend 17 hours on a plane, when they have other options.
A skeptic might call Qantas' partnership with the University of Sydney — the two entities work together to study the effects of jet lag on the body — a marketing ploy to increase ticket sales between Perth and London.
Qantas probably needs help. Ultra-long-haul trips are tricky — ask United Airlines, which is canceling Los Angeles to Singapore after just one year — because they burn so much fuel. And while the first nonstop between Australia and Europe is significant, demand between Perth and London probably is not robust. Many passengers likely are traveling to or from Sydney and Melbourne, and they have a slew of one-stop options through Dubai, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
For the route to work, Qantas must persuade passengers they'd rather fly 17 hours from Perth than break the journey into more manageable chunks. As part of that effort, Qantas is working with university researchers to determine how travelers can overcome jet lag.
The researchers have made suggestions
