This 10-year-old asked an airline company for advice on starting an airline. See the heartwarming response
Mar 12, 2019
Qantas Airlines is receiving the praise of the internet today after its sweet response to a young Australian boy asking for advice.
Alex Jacquot, 10, wrote a letter to Qantas CEO Alan Joyce asking for advice on starting his own airline. Qantas tweeted the letter Sunday night.
Our competitors don't normally ask us for advice, but when an airline leader reached out, we couldn't ignore it.
Naturally, there was only one way to respond: CEO to CEO. pic.twitter.com/JTFpzn5a6Y— Qantas (@Qantas) March 11, 2019
In the letter, Jacquot tells Joyce that he is the CEO of a new airline he’s co-founded with his best friend called “Oceania Express” and that he has started organizing things like planes he’ll need, flight numbers, catering and even a staff including a CFO and Head of Legal.
“I like working on my airline,” Jacquot writes. “Seeing as it is the school holidays, I have more time to work. But I don’t have anything to do (that I can think of). Do you have any ideas of what I can do? Seeing as you are the CEO of Qantas, I thought I’d ask you.”
Jacquot then asks for tips about starting his own airline and writes, “I’m thinking about, as you are, about an A350 for Sydney/Melbourne to London flights. Seeing as it is a 25-hour flight, we are having a lot of trouble thinking about sleep. Do you have any advice?”
Joyce responded to Jacquot in a sweet letter from Qantas, saying, “I had heard some rumors of another entrant in the market … I’m not typically in the business of giving advice to my competitors. Your newly-appointed Head of Legal might have something to say about that, too.
“But I’m going to make an exception on this occasion because I too was once a young boy who was so curious about flight and all its possibilities.”
In the letter, Joyce advises Jacquot to put safety first and do everything he can to make travel comfortable and affordable for passengers. He also informs Jacquot that Qantas is looking at different cabin designs that give people room to stretch and exercise for those long, overnight flights.
At the end of the letter, Joyce invites Jacquot to a meeting with him as “the CEO of Australia’s newest airline” to compare notes and tour the Operations Centre at Qantas.
Response: Jacquot’s letter and Joyce’s response to it have won the hearts of social media users who are today praising the company for encouraging Jacquot’s dreams.
This is a great response from Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to a kid who wants to run his own airline. Judging by the boy’s letter, I suspect we’ll be hearing his name more often in another decade or two. (Ha, I was writing to boy bands at that age!) #qantas #dreambig https://t.co/sZfxnDptKA
— Fiona Willan (@Fi_Willan) March 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/itsme_heather/status/1104931457976262656
https://twitter.com/g_busiswa/status/1104978543505756160
Killing me with cuteness – this is just adorable.
— Amanda Goff (@amanda__goff) March 11, 2019
There has been no word yet on how the meeting between the two CEOs unfolded.
