Qantas has made one of the biggest reshuffles of its senior executive team in years, and it has resulted in the departure of the chief executives of its international and domestic operations.

Simon Hickey, the CEO of Qantas' loss-making international operations, and Lyell Strambi, the boss of domestic, will leave the airline in the wake of the changes. 

The departure of Mr Strambi, who has had a long association with Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, is a surprise. He played a key role in hiring Mr Joyce to Ansett in the 1990s, and the Qantas boss later hired Mr Strambi from Virgin Atlantic in 2009. 

Andrew David, a former Tiger and Virgin executive, has continued his rapid rise at the airline, taking over from Mr Strambi as Qantas Domestic chief executive.

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Qantas chief financial officer Gareth Evans will take the reins as chief executive of the international division and freight. Mr Evans will be replaced in the position by his deputy, Tino La Spina.

The big reshufflle follows Qantas this week forecasting a first-half underlying pre-tax profit of up to $350 million, which it has attributed largely to its so-called transformation plan. A plunge in oil prices and a truce in the capacity war with Virgin Australia in the domestic market has also helped the airline's fortunes.

Qantas said the changes would result in a flatter management structure for the airline because the positions of deputy CFO, QantasLink CEO and Qantas Airways chief operating officer would be not be replaced. 

As part of the changes, QantasLink boss John Gissing will take over as group executive of associated airlines and services, and report directly to Mr Joyce.

Robert Marcolina, the head of strategy, will take on an expanded role as group executive of strategy, transformation and information technology.

It is the biggest reshuffle since 2012 when Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan departed the airline. The latest changes will be finalised by March.

Mr Joyce said in a statement that the new executive team would "deliver for our customers, shareholders and employees according to the strategy we have laid out".

He also recognised the contribution Mr Strambi and Mr Hickey, a 10-year veteran of Qantas, had made to the airline.

"In the 12 months since we announced our accelerated transformation program, we have made excellent progress," Mr Joyce said.

"But there is still a lot of work to build the foundation for a stronger, more-sustainable and more-successful Qantas." 

The airline's shares have soared almost 87 per cent mid-October on the back of more-benign competition on domestic and international routes, a fall in fuel prices and its cost-cutting plan.

As part of its efforts to return to profitability, Qantas is in the midst of removing $2 billion in costs during three years, and axing 5000 jobs.