A few weeks ago we shared the adorable story of 10-year-old airline CEO Alex Jacquot who sent a handwritten letter to Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. In his letter, Alex asked for advice on how to get his startup airline, Oceania Express, off the ground.
Qantas’ CEO not only responded back, but also invited little Alex to meet face-to-face to discuss his ambitious plans. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any cuter…
The Two CEOs Meet
Remember the 10-year-old CEO who started his own airline?
We said we’d host him and his fellow executives at Qantas for a historic aviation summit.
And we weren’t joking. pic.twitter.com/v2Bf4JFrXK
— Qantas (@Qantas) March 28, 2019
Alex Jacquot was born the same month that Alan Joyce became CEO of Qantas. Nevertheless, these CEOs were on equal footing when they met in Sydney. Joining young Alex was Oceania Express’s 10-year-old Deputy CEO Wolf Stringer and 7-year-old Head of Inflight Service, Mila Jacquot.
Mr. Joyce and Mr. Jacquot signed a “memorandum of understanding” for the airlines to cooperate starting in 2026 — once Alex completes high school. This is all subject to regulatory approval, of course.
Alex was also presented with a mockup design of the Oceania Express livery, new business cards, and received a tour of Qantas’s Operations Center and an Airbus A380. Talk about aviation geek dreams coming true. At 10-years-old.
We’ve got a lot to learn from Qantas but they can learn from us, too. We’ve got some ideas about how to make long flights less boring. I like the Qantas inflight entertainment for kids but I think we can beat it,” added Mr Jacquot.
Alex Jacquot probably just had the best day of his young life so far.
Alex and Alan, the two CEOs.
Qantas Invites More Children Behind-The-Scenes
After Alex’s letter went viral, scores of other children sent in inspiring letters of their own about their aviation dreams. Now, Qantas has decided to create a program, just for kids.
The Qantas Future High Flyers program will offer a select number of school children ages 7-12 the opportunity to experience a day in the life at Qantas in Sydney. The future aviators will have the opportunity to meet engineers, pilots and head office staff, and share their ideas on how to improve the passenger experience. Students can apply here.
All I can say is — I wish I was 10 again.
Chris Dong is a contributor and editor for Point Me. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram (@TheChrisFlyer).
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[…] The first article this week is a follow up to the adorable tale of the 10-year old aspiring airline CEO who wrote the head of Qantas for advice. While the original reply letter was great on its own, Point Me To The Plane writes about the next chapter where the two CEO’s get together for a meeting and signed a memorandum of und…. […]