Whilst I too would never say being CEO is easy, Joyce did enjoy having only to deal with one poorly run competitor domestically (Virgin). I believe domestic is where the majority of Qantas profits were made in the last few years.
The Emirates code share proved he wasn't too keen on making a go of international, but then the project sunrise fiasco came along. Too little too late and mostly a
PR stunt. He didn't have to compete with the ME3 going to Asia or the USA, just LHR mostly and he fixed that with a soul crushing 17.5 hour direct from Perth.
He also likes to fake huge losses (asset write offs) and then the following year be hailed aviation god by posting a profit.
Now whether this qualifies you as either a great CEO or great b#lls@it artist the jury is still out for me.