On Dec. 8, Qantas acknowledged that a "confluence of events" had shaken public perception of its safety record and said it needed to respond frankly to the concerns.

But chief executive Alan Joyce defended the airline's maintenance standards and said customers could continue to have trust and confidence in the national carrier.

The comments came after a survey by Labor pollster UMR Research showed two-thirds of Australians still believed Qantas was a safe airline to fly, but 63 per cent said they believed safety standards had fallen.

The survey found 73 per cent of men believed Qantas was a safe airline, compared with just 63 per cent of women. It also found that 16 per cent of women and 17 per cent of people under 30 viewed the airline as unsafe.

The findings are similar to the airline's own research and come after two serious in-flight safety scares at the airline, increased media attention on lesser incidents and a spate of delays and cancellations.

These included an oxygen cylinder that exploded and blew a hole in the side of a jumbo jet near Manila, and a malfunctioning computer that prompted an Airbus A330 to twice pitch down sharply off Western Australia, injuring 14 people.

Mr Joyce said the airline was aware of the impact recent media coverage was having on perceptions of the airline's safety record.

While acknowledging the two serious incidents, Mr Joyce said an increasing number of reports on everyday occurrences that affected airlines around the world had resulted in "disproportionate and even alarmist" coverage.

"Together they have led to a vague but dangerous perception that the rate of engineering issues in Qantas is increasing, that we are less careful on maintenance standards, and even that we are shifting all our maintenance overseas," he told the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce in Sydney. "None of this is true."

Mr Joyce said the two serious incidents were related to manufacturing and design faults and had nothing to do with Qantas engineering.

The delays associated with industrial action were a matter of operational reliability and not a fall in standards or a problem with safety. It had taken some time to bring the network back to full punctuality but it had now significantly recovered.

The offshore issue was also a red herring, with the airline sending only between 10 and 20 per cent of its work overseas, and to the same reputable bases used by other major airlines.

"You don't see the Australian media declaring that Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific or Lufthansa have compromised their reputations by doing so. Nor have we," he said. "But none of these facts should in any way imply that we are complacent. We will never be anything other than totally vigilant on safety."

Mr Joyce also said there was no guarantee that a proposed merger with British Airways would proceed. There were still "significant matters" that needed to be resolved and Qantas would not proceed with the deal unless it benefited shareholders.