Case Study Analysis COMM1100 T2 2023
In this assessment you will apply the tools and concepts you have learned and developed in
the first half of the course to analyse a business case. Tutorial activities in Weeks 1-7
provided an opportunity for you to practice the skills needed to complete this assignment.
The case and questions are released at 4pm (AEST) on Friday, 30 June 2023.
The assessment is due at 4pm (AEST) on Friday, 14 July 2023.
Length: 1,200 (+/- 10%) words, excluding references. (Everything above your reference list will
count towards your final word count. This includes words in tables, graphs, and diagrams.)
Format: No cover page. Please do not copy the questions into your response.
Referencing style: Harvard. You are expected to provide in-text citations and a reference list.
(Harvard referencing is not used for law, instead law references follow a footnote citation system called the Australian
Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition. For the purposes of answering the case study, you should use Harvard
referencing)
Weighting: 20%
Submission: Submission is via the Turnitin link on Moodle under Assessment 3.
File format: PDF or Word document.
Save your file as [Your zID][Your Name] Case Study Analysis COMM1100
Read the following instructions carefully.
There are 5 pages in this document. Read all 5 pages.
There are three questions (with two sub questions each), which are equally weighted.
Please answer all 3 questions.
You should consult, apply, and properly reference multiple sources we have provided to write a
good answer. Several sources have been provided in the case description. Additional sources
(research) may be helpful but are not strictly required. We will not award or deduct points based
directly on number of sources, but answers that do not support their arguments will multiple
sources are not likely to meet the D/HD criteria. (We will deduct marks for improper referencing
of sources.)
No resubmissions are allowed.
This is an individual assessment. Any evidence of collusion at any point after the release
of the case study will result in an Academic Integrity investigation.
You must watch the Academic Integrity Reminder video before submitting your Case Study
Analysis.
This is the case study analysis marking rubric.It is a useful tool to check your work and to
ensure that you have addressed the questions in full.
Failure to comply with the overall word limit will reduce your score (via Criterion 4) by one mark
for exceeding the limit by more than 10% and by two marks for exceeding it by more than 25%.
You can receive academic writing support here.
The Smarthinking platform is available If you wish to receive feedback on written work.
If you experience any technical difficulties in uploading your assignment, make sure to
document the issues (one way of doing this is by using screenshots) and contact UNSW IT
immediately. The teaching team are not able to assist with technical issues. Make sure to
allow yourself enough time to upload your assignment.
Late submission will incur a penalty of 5% per day or part thereof (including weekends) from the
due date and time. The assessment will not be accepted after 5 days (120 hours) of the original
deadline unless special consideration has been approved. For further information please refer
Policies and Support.
If your assignment is late due to technical difficulties, you will have to apply for Special
Consideration and provide evidence – including time stamps – of the issues you experienced
and the actions you took to resolve these issues.
Please refer the Assessment Guide for more detailed information on this assessment
If you have further questions, post them in the Discussion Forum on Moodle.
Case description
Qantas Group is a major Australian airline that offers domestic and international
services. It has two brands. The full-service brand is Qantas, and the budget airline
brand is Jetstar. During the effects of the COVID pandemic, it reduced services
dramatically. It also reduced its staff and outsourced staff numbers. With the return to
more normal travel, Qantas has returned to profitability (see BBC article and ABC
article). However, the return to near full service has not been smooth. Both Qantas
flights and Jetstar flights have left passengers stranded. The article by Cordato
highlights the legal standing for passengers.
Many passengers feel that Qantas has put profits before their loyalty. The international
status of Qantas has fallen dramatically. The new CEO has said that customer loyalty,
employee engagement, fleet renewal and sustainability are her key priorities.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) says that a lack of
effective competition in Australia’s domestic airline industry has resulted in higher
airfares and poorer service for consumers.
The ACCC found that domestic service cancellations are much worse than before the
pandemic. Passengers really have had to cope with a significant downturn in service
compared with the long-term average, particularly from Jetstar.
However, the ACCC did not just blame Qantas. The chair of the ACCC, Gina Cass-
Gottlieb said:
Access to peak time slots at Sydney Airport is critical for new and expanding
airlines seeking to build an intercity network. Without legislative reform to the
airport’s demand management scheme there will not be any material
improvement in domestic airline competition in Australia in the foreseeable
future.
Below are the links provided in the case
study description.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-64740570
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-23/qantas-profit-result-february-2023/102012212
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-24/passengers-stranded-qantas-flights-
cancelled/101807576
https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/domestic-airline-competition-at-a-critical-
juncture
https://7news.com.au/news/jetstar-flight-leaves-hundreds-of-passengers-stranded-for-
hours-in-alice-springs-after-emergency-landing-c-9874654
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/customer-loyalty-and-fleet-renewal-on-
new-qantas-ceo-s-priority-list-20230502-p5d50t.html
http://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/BalJlNTLawSoc/2012/73.pdf
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jun/21/qantas-falls-12-places-to-17th-in-
list-of-worlds-best-airlines
Answer the following questions. Do not copy the questions in your response.
Question 1 (+/- 400 words)
A. Who are the key stakeholders in Qantas’s decision to keep airfares high at
a time when service reliability has been poor, leading to the perception that
it was putting profitability before customer loyalty? Describe four key
stakeholders who are most affected by this decision. Please explain how
they are affected.
B. Based on your analysis above, evaluate Qantas’s decision from a utilitarian
perspective.
Question 2 (+/- 400 words)
A. Consider at least one form of market failure (as defined in the Week 3 ICL)
that exists in the Australian domestic airline market. Describe this market
failure and why it is likely to result in lost economic surplus compared to a
perfectly competitive market.
B. What are the key factors that allowed Qantas to earn record profits in the
2022-23 fiscal year compared to the pre-pandemic period? Use economic
concepts and analysis tools from the course to explain your answer.
As part of your answer, consider the following hypothetical scenario: Qantas and Virgin
both operate many daily flights between Sydney and Melbourne. Both currently charge an
economy-class fare of $250 for a round-trip flight. At this price, travelers purchase a total of
600,000 tickets per month. If both airlines charge the same fare, they each serve half of the
market. If both reduce their fares to $200, they would each sell half of 700,000 tickets. If instead
only one airline reduced its fare, the lower-price airline would sell 450,000 tickets, and the
higher-price airline would sell 250,000 tickets (owing in part to customer loyalty).
For simplicity, suppose that if both airlines had spare capacity – meaning that they have flights
scheduled which will not be full in any case – that the marginal cost of serving an additional
traveler is zero. In this case, how much revenue would each airline earn in the Nash
Equilibrium? Next, consider how a slow return to pre-pandemic capacity in response to the
return to pre-pandemic levels of demand might affect Qantas’s and Virgin’s pricing decisions.
Question 3 (+/- 400 words)
(A) Is Qantas Group taking consumer law and contract law risks in its business
decision to cancel flights?
(B) Does ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb's call for a change in legislation mean
that competition law is ineffective.