On Thursday Qantas announced a record half-yearly profit of $976 million before tax.

Under Chief Executive Alan Joyce, Qantas has made a remarkable turnaround, seeing three years of record profits and a $378 million share buyback.

Ray Hadley speaks with Qantas CEO Alan Joyce who describes the company’s journey as a great Australian success story.

“I think the biggest thing is that everyone got behind it.

“We invested in new aircraft, new products, new lounges, new services… it all came together.

“The balance sheets have been the best they’ve ever been, customer ratings have been the best they’ve ever been.”

Mr Joyce tells Ray it’s a win for everybody, with soaring shareholder and staff returns.

“Everybody wins out of this, we’ve given back $2.6 billion with this latest return back to shareholders.

“We’ve given staff $220 million worth of bonuses, we’re now giving 3% pay increases.”

Listen to the full interview below