Qantas chief takes 20pc pay cut
Tues The Australian
Qantas chief takes 20pc pay cut
Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
September 12, 2006
QANTAS boss Geoff Dixon took a pay cut of almost 20 per cent in 2005-06 as the carrier's annual profit slumped 30 per cent to $480 million last financial year.
Mr Dixon's total remuneration package for the year totalled $5.27 million, down from $6.48 million in 2004-05.
A Qantas spokeswoman said the difference was due to a reduction in Mr Dixon's bonus and the fact that the majority of his service payments were "previously accrued".
Mr Dixon's cash incentives fell from $1.49 million in 2004-05 to $1.01 million while his end-of-service benefits fell from $1.41 million to $465,000.
The airline's annual report showed that cash payments of $2.02 million, plus the $1.01 million in cash incentives and non-cash benefits of $289,247 brought Mr Dixon's short-term pay to $3.32 million, down from $3.6 million the previous year.
Post-employment benefits included $31,800 in travel, $100,587 in superannuation and $1.25 million in shares.
Qantas chief financial officer Peter Gregg was the next highest paid executive, with total benefits of $3.66 million, followed by Qantas executive general manager John Borghetti on $3.22 million.
Jetstar chief executive Alan Joyce's package totalled $1.423 million, with short-term payments totalling $888,341.
Media mogul James Packer, a director on the Qantas board, received $129,200 in cash and other benefits while former Defence force chief Peter Cosgrove received $203,291.
Chairman Margaret Jackson's package topped $530,000, including $447,617 in cash and almost $60,000 in non-cash benefits.
In its annual report, Qantas said its overarching goal was to achieve profit margins equivalent to its cost of capital.
It said it faced aggressive competition from mid-point carriers able to leverage significant cost and structural advantages such as lower labour rates, low or no taxation, cheaper financing, lower airport charges and accelerated depreciation regimes.
"Other legacy carriers are reforming, and that also has major competitive ramifications that we cannot afford to ignore," it said.
"We are confident, however, that the acceleration of reforms throughout the group will continue to improve productivity and efficiency and ensure that we remain a strong and successful global airline."
The report also reiterated that expanding the group's freight operations was a core strategy for Qantas.
It said the airline was moving to consolidate and then spin out its existing freight interests, and it remained interested in pursuing opportunities in the general freight market.
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