The transition will take over 15 months and Qantas will shed some 340 Australian IT staff.

Qantas chief executive officer Geoff Dixon said it would require an investment of up to A$100 million (US$76 million) to develop an in-house capability, an investment it could not support.

"The applications support and maintenance work relates to over 300 applications that use a wide range of computer languages and technologies, and much of this work involves aging systems," Dixon said.

"Satyam and Tata have established operations in Australia, with a third of the positions undertaking Qantas' work to remain onshore.

"We will continue to keep staff fully informed throughout the transition process, and will provide support to them through this change."