Originally Posted by
MelbourneFlyer
No way is the job of Qantas Group CEO going to somebody who's not only from outside the airline but has no experience in the airline industry. Yes, I know this doesn't apply to all airlines, eg Air New Zealand has done well with its current and previous CEO picks, the idea is that the CEO needs to be a great exec and leader although still understand the people below them to 'get' the actual airline business.
But I have no doubt that Gareth Evans will follow Alan Joyce as CEO. Evans was former CFO, and Qantas seems to hold command of numbers in very very high esteem, then he moved to be CEO of Qantas International so he could get actual 'operating an airline' experience, then he moved over to Jetstar CEO which is where he is today so that he could show ability to run an entire airline and 'self-contained' business. And I can bet that Evans popped the champagne when Jayne Hrdlicka upped and left after moving from Jetstar CEO to Qantas Frequent Flyer CEO, when she headed off to NZ for A2 Milk, because she was chomping at the bit to be a CEO, but her leaving took Evans' only real internal competitor off the board.
So my take is that Alan Joyce will be followed by Gareth Evans, Olivia Wirth will move from being CEO of Qantas Loyalty to running either QF Cargo or JQ as a way of getting actual airline experience , and sure, former OzPost CEO Christine Holgate could be drafted in as CEO of Qantas Loyalty do 'introduce' her to the Qantas machine, but she'd still need to get actual running an airline experience before the Qantas board would offer her the CEO's chair.
One thing that I did notice about Christine Holgate is the high esteem in which the 'shop floor' seem to hold her, people in Post Offices all over the country had put up signs "We stand with Christine". She must have made a decent impression. Not saying she's ready to be an airline CEO but some of that appeal and decent relationship building with the people who actually do the work wouldn't go astray in Qantas I feel.