JETSTAR'S biggest management restructure since 2004 will help it keep its leading role in the Asia-Pacific region, says CEO Bruce Buchanan.
The Qantas offshoot announced yesterday that former chief financial officer David Hall would return from Qantas to take over the airline's operations in Australia and New Zealand.
Mr Hall will also be responsible for introducing the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to the Qantas fleet.
At the same time, Jetstar Singapore chief executive Chong Phit Lian will take on an expanded role beyond her existing duties in the Singapore hub, including responsibility for other Jetstar investments and business in Asia.
Mr Buchanan will continue to control the group, including its expansion into new markets.
"We just came to a realisation that if we're going to have the right bandwidth and the right focus both on the strategic issues and the new business opportunities, that we needed a new structure," Mr Buchanan said.
"And this structure is one that creates a number of business leads that will be chief executives of their respective areas, and then four key functional areas to provide support to the group."
The new structure reduces the number of direct reports to Mr Buchanan from eight to six.
In addition to the chief executives, they include group functions headed by chief commercial officer David Koczkar, chief financial officer Richard Moore, and strategy head Vincent Hodder.
Jetstar expects to appoint a new people and communications head from outside the airline in coming weeks.
Mr Buchanan said the new structure would free him to spend more time with his team and on strategic issues in Asia.
"We've been incredibly successful and we just want to make sure we stay a step ahead of the game and we maintain our leading position in the Asia-Pacific region, and we continue to capitalise on all the growth opportunities as they come up," he said.
The airline was fortunate to get back Mr Hall to head the Australian-New Zealand operations, because he already knew the business, the Jetstar boss said.
As well, he has had valuable experience with Qantas.
Mr Buchanan said the new structure would allow Mr Hall to get around the airline's 52 destinations, talk to staff and customers, and ensure that Jetstar maintained a strong connection with its Australian and New Zealand markets. "It's great to note that five of the six are either current or former Jetstar people and we've been able to grab that talent from within for all those senior roles," he said.
Mr Hall, who was appointed Qantas corporate services and technology group executive in 2008, said the new job represented the fulfilment of a long-held ambition.
Challenges included continued growth in Australasia, maintaining competitiveness around price and costs, and improving efficiency to make travel faster and easier for customers, Mr Hall said.
The Australian