It takes some high-level boldness to launch a challenger brand, especially in a market that’s well established and highly regulated. But that’s not stopping 10-year-old Alex Jacquot from entering the highly competitive world of passenger airlines.
The young Australian entrepreneur recently sent a letter to Alan Joyce, CEO of the country’s largest and oldest airline, Qantas, announcing his new venture, Oceania Express.
Alex had questions for Joyce on three topics: How to best use his free time outside of school to launch the airline, general advice on starting an airline, and how to address the issue of comfortable sleep on 25-hour flights from Australian cities to London.
Here’s a look at Alex’s letter, shared by Qantas on Twitter today:
Here is Joyce’s perfect response, which balances a tone of mutual respect while still clearly enjoying the opportunity to match wits with such a brash young pen pal:
Alex’s letter and Joyce’s response quickly drew wide acclaim on Twitter, racking up 30,000 likes and more than 10,000 retweets within 16 hours. While there hasn’t been an official update from Qantas or Oceania Express about their mutual publicity coup, the established airline and its new rival have both received feedback of the kind few businesses on Twitter can ever hope to see:
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