Gaunty:
I woudn't hang him on the strength of that interview.
He is doing what a Chairman should do. Standing back and watching the big picture and casting around the business world at large for feedback.
Maybe a chat With the CEO every cuppla weeks worked in the mining business, where it takes that long between mine and furnace but the aviation world works in real time.
I'm surprised that he and maybe Joist , were surprised at the size of the loss but it is possible that it was, a surprise to Clifford at least. Maybe not that there would be a loss, but the size of it.
It wouldn't be he first time a CEO has ambushed a Board with this sort of result hoping to the end it would all work out at the end.
So what can the Board do without further frightening the horses = share price and more importantly further demoralizing the staff.
Changing horses on the run is more likely to result in an even bigger train smash.
OR
Keep Joist in the traces and force him to fix his frck ups under riding instructions from the Board who represent the owners.
There is of course only 2 possible results.
He finally gets it and fixes it, by harnessing the huge depth of goodwill the staff and market have towards the QF brand.
Or the Board eventually
falls into the hands of Singo and his mates, which may not be such a bad thing.
Virgin and QF need each other to keep the market stimulated. There are plenty of really smart people in Virgin who could step into Borghetti's shoes.
One wonders how much and on what terms it would take Singo and his mates to get Borghetti to head up QF.
Just sayin.
Off the beam a little.
1. "Surprising" a Board, let alone a Chairman, is grounds for immediate termination of a CEO. This is something that you never, ever, do. The Boards motto is always "no surprises" because if they get surprised it implies straight away that the Directors have not been doing their jobs diligently, informing themselves of the business.
2. A CEO "Ambushing" the board of a public company is also a career terminating move. A Managing Director might try it - if he has the necessary shareholding behind him but as a general rule you are asking for a lawsuit. A CEO of a private company who is a rainmaker generating profits, thats a different matter. Again the Directors of a public company are required to be diligent in knowing and understanding the business, or else.
3. The Board doesn't get to issue "riding instructions" to anyone. Thats not its function at all. The Boards job is to hire and fire the CEO. The CEO issues instructions. The Board either accepts his strategy or fires him.
4. Joyce cannot, by definition, "fix" Qantas, he is part of the problem, not the solution and so is the Board. To put that another way, the people that got Qantas to this low point are not the people who an lead Qantas out of it.
5, Singleton and the APA Boyze getting control of Qantas???? Mate! Think of the money was can make! The first thing we can do is shake down every tourism region in the country and every State government. Do you know what happened to Sunshine Coast land values when QF terminated its services and replaced them with Jetstar?
Then of course we can asset strip, restructure and refloat the business with a complete new marketing plan and competent management instead of the current clowns.
Qantas can make a very, very nice return on investment for a new owner - provided the current bunch of managers deliver it at a low enough purchase price.