Australia’s Qantas Airways Says 6M Customer Records Accessed in Cyberattack

Key Takeaways

• Qantas Airways said 6 million customers had their personal data exposed by a cybersecurity incident.
• Names, frequent flyer numbers, and other identifiers were accessed, but not financial or passport info, the carrier said.
• Last week, Alaska Air-owned Hawaiian Airlines also reported a data breach.

Qantas Airways said a cybersecurity incident at one of its call centers exposed 6 million customer records, the second carrier in as many weeks to be the subject of a cyberattack.

The incident occurred when a cyber criminal gained access to a third-party customer servicing platform at one of Australian carrier’s call centers, potentially exposing customers’ names, birth dates, frequent flyer numbers and other personal information. However, Qantas said credit card numbers, PINs, and passport details were not held in the same system, so thus not put at risk. The company said it has informed federal authorities in Australia and is conducting an investigation. 

Qantas stock closed 2% lower Wednesday on the Australian Securities Exchange. 

The incident comes less than a week after Alaska Air Group (ALK)-owned Hawaiian Airlines said it was "continuing to address a cybersecurity event" that affected some of its IT systems. In both cases, the airlines said passenger travel has not been affected.

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