I didn't realize that AJ wanted to be a pilot, earlier in his career. Here is the online article.
Pilot reject came up through ranks | Courier Mail
Pilot reject came up through ranks
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WORKING CLASS: Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. Picture: AFP
Source: AFP
THE man who is attempting to steer Qantas through the biggest crisis of its 90-year history is a mathematical whiz from a working-class Irish family.
Alan Joyce entered the aviation industry straight out of Trinity College in Dublin where he studied science, majoring in physics and maths.
The eldest son of blue-collar parents Maurice and Collette, Joyce dreamed of being a pilot when he started work with Ireland's national carrier Aer Lingus in 1988 but failed the vision test.
Instead he focused on management, and quickly moved up the ranks from his first job as operations research analyst.
After eight years with Aer Lingus, during which Joyce worked on an ultimately unsuccessful plan to match the aggressive budget airline Ryanair, he was headhunted by Ansett and moved to Melbourne.
He left before the airline went bust, joining Qantas in late 2000 as the head of network planning.
Just three years later, Joyce was made chief executive of Jetstar where he used chunks of the Ryanair business model to build a successful budget airline. This included the 25-minute aircraft turnaround policy, to get maximum use out of aircraft and reduce the cost of flight crew stopovers.
In 2005, Joyce was asked to head up Aer Lingus, but he stuck with Jetstar and in 2008 was rewarded with the plum position of Qantas chief executive, replacing Geoff Dixon.
Much has been made of the fact Joyce started in the job on a much-reduced salary to his predecessor, but has since increased his annual income to more than $5 million a year.
Joyce became an Australian citizen in 2004.
Now 45, Joyce is intensely private and has refused to even name his long-term partner - a New Zealand man - with whom he lives at The Rocks in Sydney.