The Australian Services Union has slammed Qantas for using AI as an excuse to shift hundreds of jobs to India instead of investing locally in the technology.

Qantas’s chief executive Vanessa Hudson blamed the “unprecedented” pace of AI for the sudden axing of 850 jobs which was revealed on Tuesday.

The nation’s largest airline sent an email to staff outlining the mass redundancies in Australia, with most of the roles to be outsourced to India.

The deal to move the jobs offshore was inked with tech consultants Accenture, with the first phase affecting roles in finance, procurement, human resources and marketing.

Under the arrangement, most of Accenture’s services will be delivered in India, although some of the roles will remain in Australia.

Flight attendant and pilot roles were unlikely to be affected.

The ASU’s NSW secretary Angus McFarland said it was “absolutely outrageous” that Qantas was sending jobs and skills overseas.

“This should be chilling to not only those workers, but all Australians, because no Australian benefits from this,” he said.

“This is jobs offshore and this is skills offshore at our national airline.

“If they can get away with it, anyone can.

“We will do all we can to save as many jobs as possible.”

The Qantas CEO cited unwieldy back-office workflows and the impact of artificial intelligence in explaining the move to staff via email.

“The scale and speed of change in this space is unprecedented,” Hudson said in the email.

“Leading organisations around the world are well progressed in using technology and AI to completely transform how they work, and standing still is not an option for us.”

Hudson said AI was rapidly transforming how businesses operated, what customers expected and how people did their jobs and modernising was a “critical next step”.

She told workers she was sorry for the uncertainty the changes brought.

“I know this is hard news for some,” she said in the email.

“(The changes) are about modernising the technology behind our business and becoming more efficient, so we can keep investing in our customers, our people and our future.”

The aviation boss said individual outcomes were not yet determined and the airline would consult affected employees.

Accenture and Qantas would together redesign and simplify the airline’s corporate functions, Hudson said.

In August, Qantas reported a 2025/26 net profit of $1.3 billion, down 19.8 per cent on the previous year.

Its underlying pre-tax profit also fell by 13.8 per cent to $2.1 billion despite a 7.1 per cent rise in revenue to $25.5 billion.

The airline has already cancelled a planned $150 million share buyback and could still raise fares in response to high costs due to soaring fuel prices.

Qantas had warned airfares could rise again in 2027 after it was forced to find another $200 million to cover a $3.8 billion fuel bill for the first half of the new financial year.

High jet fuel costs, driven by the Middle East conflict, shaved $420 million off its 2025/26 annual profit after the bill came in $610 million over budget.

-with AAP