As CEO of an airline that is lurching from loss to loss, from one crisis to another, do you reckon the little fella ever actually says quietly to himself I'm making a right freakin meal of this!
No.
Ego is a strong emotion capable of preventing a person from acting logically,so much so that the person is convinced that he/she is right in what they do.
Some people are able to harness this emotion and do great things. Alan Joyce is not one of them, nor is Clifford.