Personally, I'd be happy if the whole team were swept out faster than Bud Fox at Bluestar Airlines. I apologiise for the gratuitous Joyce photo's - they make me ill as well. At this stage (for me) - Vanessa is fast approaching that level.
Qantas shareholders demand chairman Richard Goyder's resignation as investors place rest of board on notice
The Business
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By business reporters
Kate Ainsworth and Kirsten Aiken
Retail shareholders add their voices to calls for Qantas chairman Richard Goyder to resign from the airline.Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this articleQantas shareholders have demanded chairman Richard Goyder's resignation and placed the rest of the airline's board on notice as concerns grow among furious investors over the mounting cost of legal battles and reputational damage.
Key points:
- The Australian Shareholders' Association says Qantas chair Richard Goyder must resign after recent scandals
- The group has also placed the Qantas board on notice ahead of its Annual General Meeting in November
- Mr Goyder and CEO Vanessa Hudson will face a grilling at a Senate inquiry over the Qatar Airways' rejection in Canberra on Wednesday
The Australian Shareholders' Association (ASA) said Mr Goyder's time as Qantas chairman needed to end in the wake of the ACCC's legal action over ghost flights, a High Court ruling over illegally sacked workers, and the fallout from the airline's final multi-million dollar payout to former CEO Alan Joyce.
"We think it's time for [Richard] Goyder to step down," chief executive Rachel Waterhouse told The Business.
"Richard Goyder is just one of the board members, and he is the first among equals as far as being the chair."
Last week Mr Goyder told the ABC that
he had the backing of the airline's biggest shareholders and its board.
"The latest read I've got on that is that people want me to continue to do the role, and I think I'm well suited to do it," he told The World Today.
"Shareholders are very supportive of the work we're doing now, of the new CEO, and certainly of me."
But Ms Waterhouse said the shareholders she had spoken to were not offering messages of support to Mr Goyder.
"What I've been hearing from retail shareholders [is] that change is required, and that Richard Goyder should step down," she said.
"That dialogue has been changing over the last few weeks as more issues came to light, but it's clear there is a leadership change required.
"So many facts have come to light which question the ability to oversee the CEO and the management team, and the questions around the timing of a payment of Alan Joyce's share sale, and that is a concern to retail shareholders."
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has been facing mounting calls to resign in recent weeks as scandals have engulfed the airline.(ABC News: Keane Bourke)Ms Waterhouse said the remaining members of the Qantas board should consider themselves as being on notice to improve the airline's culture.
"The board have made a decision around the CEO … now they need to reflect on what they knew, at what time, what was appropriate, and the risks that they oversight," she said.
"The board does need to contemplate themselves, and the skills required for the future."
Qantas' board is comprised of 10 members. In addition to Mr Goyder and CEO Vanessa Hudson are Maxine Brenner, Jacqueline Hey, Belinda Hutchinson, Michael L'Estrange, Doug Parker, Todd Sampson, Heather Smith and Antony Tyler.
Ms Waterhouse said Mr Goyder should resign after appearing at the airline's annual general meeting in November when there is a "clear succession plan in place".
Hudson's time as CEO not 'untenable' yet
Ms Waterhouse said the position of Qantas' current CEO, Ms Hudson, had not become "untenable at this stage", but warned it depended on the legal challenges facing the airline.
Alan Joyce will leave Qantas after 15 years with $125 million, while the airline's operations have suffered and its reputation has been trashed.
Read more"But it could become untenable, depending on what information comes out," Ms Waterhouse said.
"Particularly around the ACCC allegations … and what she may have known at that point in time."
Ms Waterhouse said there was a "possibility" that investors would deliver a first strike against directors' remuneration at Qantas' November AGM.
"As more and more things come to light, retail shareholders are as disappointed as consumers around the service that they have received," she said.
"They're also concerned around the fact that there was a really great year for Qantas ... and now it looks like there are fines, compensation, required fleet upgrades.
"There's a lot of costs coming all the way to shareholders, and so we need confidence around what's next, and that leadership is in place and they're fixing the issues."
Ms Hudson was announced as Qantas' next CEO in May and began in the role in early September, after Mr Joyce retired from the airline two months ahead of his planned November departure.
Vanessa Hudson was Qantas' chief financial officer before being appointed its first female CEO.(ABC News: Harriet Tatham)
More shareholders yet to comment
The ASA is the first major shareholder group to have publicly called for the resignation of Mr Goyder as Qantas chair. It represents retail shareholders, which altogether make up about 10 per cent of Qantas' total shareholdings, according to the airline's latest annual report.
The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI), which represents major superannuation funds that hold Qantas shares, has not yet taken a public stance against the board.
Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was paid $21.4 million in the last financial year, but more than half could be subjected to a clawback by the airline's board.
Read moreHowever, ACSI last week said it was seeking clarity and greater accountability from Qantas' board for ongoing customer issues, illegally sacking workers in 2020, and the ACCC investigation in the wake of its annual report, which CEO Louise Davidson said was "interesting for what it doesn't say".
ACSI, along with public sector investors, including Future Fund, have been reported to control more than 20 per cent of Qantas' shares.
Both the ASA and ACSI had been carefully reviewing Qantas' annual report, which was released last Wednesday and confirmed that
Mr Joyce was paid $21.4 million by the airline in the last financial year.
Qantas' annual report however noted that $14.4 million of Mr Joyce's final payout could be at risk, depending on the outcome of the ACCC's Federal Court action over allegations the airline sold tickets for flights that had been cancelled.
Qantas has denied any wrongdoing.
Alan Joyce departed Qantas in early September after 15 years as CEO.(AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Goyder, Hudson to face Senate grilling
The ASA's stance comes a day after the pilots union, the
Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), demanded Mr Goyder resign, stating it had "totally lost confidence" in him, the board, and the company's chances to move forward under his leadership.
AIPA's president Tony Lucas said Mr Goyder had overseen "one of the most damaging periods in Qantas' history" and "the morale of Qantas pilots had never been lower".
On Tuesday, Labor frontbencher Bill Shorten also suggested Mr Goyder should resign after the High Court ruled
Qantas illegally sacked 1,700 ground staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I don't know what makes a board or chair resign these days," he told Channel Nine.
Greens leader Adam Bandt also called for Mr Goyder and the Qantas board to step down from their positions on Tuesday afternoon.
Qantas says it is determined to fix its reputation with customers.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)Mr Goyder will appear at a Senate inquiry into Australia's bilateral air rights in Canberra on Wednesday, alongside Ms Hudson. Mr Joyce has also been invited to attend the Senate hearing but is unlikely to appear.
Both Mr Goyder and Ms Hudson are expected to receive a grilling over whether Qantas lobbied the federal government to deny Qatar Airways' request for an additional 28 flights a week.
Transport Minister Catherine King has
denied she was motivated to protect Qantas' market share when she made her decision, and had repeatedly said the decision was in the "national interest", but has not elaborated on what that encompasses.
A decision announced in July to deny Qatar Airways more flights to major Australian cities has resulted in accusations of protectionism for Qantas, criticism from the private sector and ACCC, and a parliamentary inquiry. This is how it all unfolded.
Read moreMs King has since suggested that rejecting Qatar Airways' bid was made within the "context" of
five Australian women being strip-searched at Doha Airport in October 2020, but said there was "no one factor" that influenced her decision.
Her decision has been criticised by current and former bosses of the ACCC, who said
granting the additional flights to Qatar Airways would have reduced airfares.
Wednesday's Senate appearance comes after
Ms Hudson issued a public apology last Friday for a series of scandals that have damaged Qantas' reputation, acknowledging the airline had been "hard to deal with" and promising to rebuild trust with customers.
On Monday, Qantas made good on Ms Hudson's promise, announcing it would spend an additional $80 million on fixing customer "pain points" on top of $150 million it had previously set aside for improving customers relations.
Qantas will hold its annual general meeting for shareholders in Melbourne on November 3.
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