Australian airline Qantas will outsource 850 local corporate jobs to consulting firm Accenture.
Most of these roles will move to India, and some will stay in Australia.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson told staff about the plan in an internal email on Tuesday.
She said she was sorry for the uncertainty it brings.
The job cuts will begin in mid-2027. They will start with finance, procurement, people and marketing roles.
Procurement means buying the goods and services a company needs.
Key points
- 850 local corporate jobs will go, with most roles moving to India.
- Cuts begin in mid-2027, starting with finance, procurement, people and marketing.
- Qantas says the move is part of upgrading its old IT systems and adding AI.
- Affected staff will be redeployed where possible, including into new roles in Australia.
What is Qantas trying to change?
Hudson said Qantas spends more than AU$1 billion a year on technology. That is about US$691 million.
She said the company's back-end systems need an upgrade.
Back-end systems are the behind-the-scenes tools that run daily work, such as records and accounts.
Qantas also runs more than 1,000 legacy applications. These are older software programs that were not built to work together.
Graphic: News Anek, from the facts in this report
Why are these jobs moving to India?
Qantas has signed a new multi-year deal with Accenture.
Hudson said the aim is to make the airline's IT systems more efficient.
The company says the work Accenture takes over will later be changed further with automation and AI.
Automation means machines or software doing tasks that people once did.
What happens next for the staff?
Qantas says affected staff will be redeployed where possible. This includes new roles in Australia.
The airline employs about 28,000 people in Australia and about 4,000 more around the world.
It also says thousands of its staff already use AI in their daily work.
Hudson said the company is in talks with unions and staff on the plans.
The announcement follows a recent market update in which the airline flagged fare increases and flight cuts due to higher fuel costs.
