The adorable 10-year-old boy from Australia has gone viral on social media after writing a letter to Alan Joyce the CEO of Qantas.
In his handwritten note, Alex asks Alan to “please take [him] seriously” before launching into a discussion about his future business plans – and asking for some advice on how he can get his own company up and running.
In a post on Twitter , Qantas shared the full letter and revealed that Alan had taken the time to reply, CEO to CEO.
They tweeted: Our competitors don’t normally ask us for advice, but when an airline leader reached out, we couldn’t ignore it. “Naturally, there was only one way to respond: CEO to CEO.”
The tweet quickly garnered a lot of attention, with over 20,000 retweets and more than 58,000 likes.
Alex’s letter reads: “Dear Mr Alan Joyce AC,
“I”m Alex Jacquot, a 10-year-old boy (Please take me seriously) and I want to start an airline. I have already started some suff, like what type of planes I’ll need, flight numbers, catering and more.
“I’m the CEO of the airline, which by the way is called Oceania Express. I’ve also hired a CFO, a Head of IT, a Head of Maintenance, a Head of On Board Services and a Head of Legal as well, along with my friend Wolf (Vice-CEO) we are both co-founders.”
“I wanted to write to you because I wanted to ask you three things. Number one: I like working on my airline. Seeing as it is the school holidays, I have more time to work, but I don’t have anything to do (that I can think of).
“Do you have any ideas of what I can do? Seeing as you are the CEO of Qantas, I thought I’d ask you.
“Number two: Do you have any tips on starting an airline? I’d be very grateful to know what you’d have to say.
Our competitors don’t normally ask us for advice, but when an airline leader reached out, we couldn’t ignore it.
Naturally, there was only one way to respond: CEO to CEO. pic.twitter.com/JTFpzn5a6Y— Qantas (@Qantas) March 11, 2019
“Number three: I’m thinking about, as you are, about an A350 for Sydney/Melbourne to London flights. Seeing as it is a 25 hour flight, we are having a lot of trouble thinking about sleep. Do you have any advice?
“Hope to hear from you soon! Yours sincerely, Alex Jacquot, CEO and Co-Founder of Oceania Express.”
Mr Joyce replied to the letter, thanking the youngster for letting him know about his new airline and said he’d “heard rumours” of another entrant in the market.
He said: “My number one tip for starting an airline is to put safety front and centre. And do everything you can to make travel as comfortable and affordable as possible for your passengers. That’s been the Qantas way for almost 100 years, and it’s worked for us.
“Now to your troubles thinking about sleep on 21-hour flights. This is something we are grappling with too, as we embark on Project Sunrise (which is out plan to fly passengers non-stop between the east coast of Australia and London).
“To help with sleep, we’re looking at different cabin designs that give people spaces to stretch out and exercise.”
Mr Joyce went on to invite Alex to a very special Projecct Sunrise meeting to compare notes on what it’s like to run an airline, and offered to give him a tour of the Operations Centre, where they keep an eye on every flight around the world.