Dixon has major heart surgery?

[chockchucker]

If the article below is true, G Dixon will not have his hands on the controls at qantas for at least a couple of months! Which begs the question, who's going to be running the show in the new year with all the industrial turmoil that is likely to occur this month?


January 01, 2008 12:00am

QANTAS boss Geoff Dixon is in St Vincent's Private Hospital after major surgery.

Sources told The Daily Telegraph the high-profile chief who joined Qantas 14 years ago had a heart bypass operation.

It was understood Mr Dixon may have been operated on as recently as last Friday, although another St Vincent's source said this may have been a reference to a different Sydney identity.

"You'd be amazed how many high profile people have been through emergency this week," the source said.

Qantas refused to comment, saying it did not comment on its executives' health.

"We have nothing to disclose," a spokesperson said.

Qantas shareholders might think otherwise, as bosses of Mr Dixon's calibre must have regular physicals and attract "key man insurance" to mitigate the risk of them falling ill or worse.

The sudden absence of an experienced and highly-regarded CEO may create doubt in investors' minds about a company's immediate financial viability.
And Mr Dixon is an exceptionally well-respected businessman.

In addition to his duties at Qantas he occupies a non-executive director's seat on the boards of James Packer's Consolidated Media and Crown.
He also sits on the board of the Business Council of Australia, which is one of Australia's most powerful lobby groups.

It is not known whether his surgery was a scheduled procedure or otherwise.
A noted fitness enthusiast, Mr Dixon takes almost daily exercise, including morning runs.

But 2007 has been particularly demanding for the one-time journalist from Wagga Wagga who turns 69 in 2008.
For the first half of the year he was embroiled, along with the Qantas board and senior management, in a bizarre stand-off with many of its shareholders who could not be convinced they should accept a foreign private equity group's $5.45 a share takeover offer for the Flying Kangaroo.

During the offer period, Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson was admitted to hospital with deep vein thrombosis.

Mr Dixon, who would have earned up to $70 million in the event of a successful takeover, kept a slightly lower profile but maintained a punishing work schedule, including seemingly incessant rounds of enterprise bargaining negotiations with Qantas employees

[RENURPP]

Bit like Alice in wonderland, (should have read Wizard of Oz, I don't know my fairy tales :ooh:) does the man have a heart?

[SilverSleuth]

No he is a cybernetic organism: living tissue over a metal endoskeleton.

[Qantas 787]

Quote: "It is not known whether his surgery was a scheduled procedure or otherwise" and yet they conclude it was "major" surgery? :confused: Gee journos are great - they either know what the procedure was or they are speculating

[SilverSleuth]

Hospital staff reported his last words going in as " I"LL BE BACK !" for some reason it was with an austrian accent

[Toluene Diisocyanate]

It is rumored that the real reason he's in there is for an ar$ehole transplant.
Complications set in when the ar$ehole rejected him :E

[The_King]

Heart surgery, that would imply the b@st@rd has a heart. I don’t believe it.

[the shaman]

the op was to fix a broken heart after he missed out on $70 mill bonus when the private equity bid fell thru. Rumour has it when the surgeon opened him up he had to call for a hammer and chisel because he found a heart of stone in his chest cavity...:D:D

[corowacomet]

"......The sudden absence of an experienced and highly-regarded CEO may create doubt in investors' minds about a company's immediate financial viability....."
Erm....ok, whatever! Yesterday: CEO Ok, Business Ok. Today: CEO not well, Business not well. GD must really drive things on a day to day basis over there!
The Comet.

[satos]

No,he wants a heart just like the 'Tin Man' from the wizard of oz.

[Howard Hughes]

OK... So who needs a brain and who needs some courage?;)

[wrobinsyd]

GD why didnt you use a public hospital?

I also bet you used a couple of well known surgens that had undergone recent training and that were paid very well...and they might be members of a union..

unlike your staff....

hate to see the support equip plug fall out of the socket.

[acslame]

I bet the equipment used in GD's operation wasn't maintained
in China!

[PinkusDickus]

I heard a rumour that it was not heart surgery but an ar$ehole transplant.

The latest bulletin from the hospital is the ar$sehole has rejected him!

[prunezeuss]

When the APA deal was being negotiated there was a rumour that Dixon had had a Cardiac Event.
This problem has been around for a while.
Hopefully he will leave the Rat early.
There would be celebrations everywhere.

[NAS1801]

exploratory surgery? Did they find one?

[satos]

It's funny how he chose to be treated in OZ instead of going to Asia.
Geoff,aren't operations over there supposed to be cheaper and more cost effective than in Australia.
I feel Geoff the real answer is that deep inside you felt that you were worried that you wouldn't get the best treatment over there.
So why do you still continue to outsource maintenance to Asia when you know the quality of the workmanship is not up to the standard of Australia.
You wouldn't risk your health so why risk an aircraft carrying hundreds of pax.

[Short_Circuit]

Wow, look at the amount of love & respect for the old codger! :}

[Ultralights]

edit, must read previous posts, no point repeating the same joke...

[RENURPP]

Wonder if they used staples to put him back together?

[teresa green]

I volunteer to be his night nurse. All alone.:E

[Spaz Modic]

Well, they couldn't operate on the grey matter - there being none.

[qantasjetstar]

Lucky for Geoff Dixon he didn't have to rely on the Qantas doctor like I had to.
Now that I have ASIC investigating my claim against him and Qantas I would hate to start again just when my web site and blogs are at the top of google.
He will have time to reflect on a few things while he has Australian care.

[The Mr Fixit]

I know I' ll be Jessica Rowe with the late news but...............

I hear he under went a 17 hr operation

It took 15 hours just to find his HEART !!!!!!!! :E

[Howard Hughes]

One could be forgiven for thinking his heart had ALREADY been bypassed!:E

[Buster Hyman]

I heard a rumour that it was not heart surgery but an ar$ehole transplant.
The latest bulletin from the hospital is the ar$sehole has rejected him!

Okay, that's the third time that ones been used...anyone else?

Besides, I thought he'd already had a heart bypass...and now everything goes to his hip pocket???:confused:

[AEROMEDIC]

The lengths some people will go to not to have to front up to an ASIC inquiry to explain their lack of fiduciary
responsibility during the APA debacle. :*

He's bypassed all the regulations so there's a man with experience. This op should be a snack.!!

[No SAR No Details]

They said it was Heart Bypass. They figured as he wasn't using it anyway they may as well go round it!!!!!!!

[Capt Kremin]

Funny how all the money in the world means nothing at a time like this.

I may have to pay more attention to the concept of Karma.

[stiffwing]

This has renewed my faith in Santa.. I've got my number one present now

[Capt Wally]

............not a single kind word here for a "well-respected businessman", quote unquote !:bored:.......after reading that I think I'll book in for some work on my brain, I wonder if it can be saved after being exoposed to that tripe ?:bored:
You know the funny thing here (if it where not soo serious) is that this guy is, rich, famous, (to his mum only I'd say) well respected, not by anyone normal & above all human, that's the funny bit 'cause a machine would have more "heart" than this old guy !...he won't last forever, & neither will the Airline sadly if he's allowed back at the controls !

Get well soon GD it's guys like you that give us 'humans' reason to vent our frustrations here !

I wonder if the QF engineers will send flowers?:}

CW,

[meguro]

To quote Al Dunlap "You have no friends in business, if you want a friend buy a dog"
Good luck to everyone at QF, 2007 has been a year of regime change.

[NAMPS]

I wonder if the surgeons accidently left a rag or some tools behind in his chest after sewing him up?

[whatdouknow]

Left some instruments of the trade, still happens and whilst I wouldn't want to wish that, I hope that the medical proffessionals at that hospital were on their job that day.

You don't see doctors and nurses jobs threatened with offshoring.

Get well soon Geoff, hope they give you some moral injections in recovery!

God why couldn't it happen in the hospital that I am connected too?

[chockchucker]

Looks as though it was all too good to be true.:(

January 02, 2008 12:00am
QANTAS boss Geoff Dixon had an undisclosed "procedure" before Christmas which forced him to stay in hospital, the airline confirmed late yesterday.

However, a suggestion in a newspaper report that the airline's long serving chief executive had a heart bypass operation was denied.

The airline said in a statement that Mr Dixon had a procedure at St Vincent's hospital, Sydney, on December 17 and that he had remained in hospital for several days.

"The procedure was a private issue for Mr Dixon and was not heart bypass surgery as was reported in (Tuesday's) media.

"Mr Dixon had returned to work on December 27 and was at work this week," the airline said.

Mr Dixon, 68, who earned upwards of $6 million last year, has been chief executive of the airline since 2000.

He is due to retire in mid 2009.

Aviation industry sources have speculated for some time that Mr Dixon might choose to go earlier following the appointment last month of Leigh Clifford a former chief executive of Rio Tinto, as chairman.

The Qantas board recently appointed a headhunting firm to select international candidates and other talent from the Australian business scene as possible replacements.

Three internal candidates -- chief financial officer Peter Gregg, executive general manager John Borghetti and Jetstar boss Alan Joyce -- are also likely to be shortlisted.

[RedTBar]

originally posted by Howard HughesOne could be forgiven for thinking his heart had ALREADY been bypassed!
mate,it wasn't a heart by-pass it was for a personality/charisma by-pass as you have to have it re-done every 5 years or so to keep it effective.
He needed it to be done before christmas because he didn't want to give any gifts to anyone and he loves playing Scrooge at this time of year.

On another note the time span seems about right for a heart op.You only stay overnight if it was a stent but a bypass would be about 5 days.Maybe it is another PR job to keep the 'shareholders and the market' in the dark.
You never know this might be the reason he can use to leave early.
If thats right then watch for how big his pay out will be

[Douglas Mcdonnell]

I wonder if there were any dodgy staple jobs involved?

[Capt Wally]

.....................Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall, known as GD he was well loved by all, (gag gag).
.................... all the engineers & all the decent men, couldn't put humpty dumpty back together again.....halleluiah !!!:}

CW:)

[qantasjetstar]

Geoff Dixon publicity stunt over heart bypass. Is he is playing the field?

Geoff Dixon has heart surgery. Daily Telegraph (http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22991297-5014099,00.html)
Qantas denies Geoff Dixon heart bypass Herald Sun

(http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22995076-664,00.html)
Geoff, Stop the bull**** and show your face with someone trustworthy.
We know that you get a kick back from the media. More sales equals more money.
In addition to his duties at Qantas he occupies a non-executive director's seat on the boards of James Packer's Consolidated Media and Crown.
It's a bit like "Double Dipping"
See my blogs

[schlong hauler]

Nah,
He had a vasectomy!

[Marauder]

Nah,
He had a vasectomy!
No way, where would you start, there is no end to this prick:eek:

[Dunnybudgee]

I heard using a hospital was a cover for changing the cyborgs reactor rods - honest! :}

[Howard Hughes]

He had a vasectomy!
Look on the bright side, at least the staff won't get pregnant next time they get screwed!;)

[Barkly1992]

Can someone tell me what the definition of MINOR heart surgery is?

[RENURPP]

The heart of a person who has not yet reached their thirteenth birthday?

[BLF Goon]

Should i mention the word Karma? Or maybee his heart just couldnt take all the stress of trying to spend that extra 27% pay rise he got this year!! Lucky the sale to APA didnt go through. What was that bonus for selling the airline below cost ?? 60 or 70 million?? That may have made his heart stop completely. Thats right he was going to donate it to charity. YEAH RIGHT , the dixon retirement fund!!!

[Buster Hyman]

Boom, Boom Howard!:ok::D

[galdian]

My, my, my - nasty bunch of pricks, aren't you all!!

The thing that amuses me - GD is 69, making HUGE and I mean HUGE amounts of bonus $$$ by ripping apart the T&C's of the people who actually make QF work day in, day out.

I reckon it will be his beneficiaries who will get to enjoy spending all that dosh he's accumulated - not Mr GD Esq. :ugh:

As I get older the concept of Karma becomes more of an honest reality. :ok:

[Capt Wally]

....................look GD is most likely everything that has been said about him in here (inc what i've said b4) but remember this guy is a CEO & his job is to make the Co. (QF) perform the best way possible for the share holders. It's also his job to do it with as little outlay as possible, & that means being ruthless where it has the most impact & that's the workers sadly. Why you might ask?.........well the human side of any buisness is the most 'moldable', the most flexible & one of the most costly parts of the bottom line whether we like it or not & hence we have a lot of disharmony. If anyone of us where to take the helm the Co. ( just theoretically) we wouldn't last 5 mins, oh there would be a huge amount of happy workers that's for sure & in their eyes you would be a hero, 'till they realised that the Co. wasn't making enough money & the shareholders where selling their shares like wild fire & you where staring at the face of a business about to fold !
This is not in any way sticking up for the guy b4 half of you lot out there see red he could have it both ways but like someone else said in here his benificiaries will win, not GD himself, that he needs to contemplate & quickly.
All the best for the new year GD, yr going to need it that's for sure !:)

CW

[BLF Goon]

Wally,i agree that the CEO of any company has a job to do and that includes cutting costs.Its not smart to save money with professional staff that require a lot of training like engineers and pilots and it gets to a point where you screw the staff too much and they will get fed up and revolt.Now we have heard all the management speal about how tough the industry is and how much fuel costs.But massive profit speaks for itself.You need to get your staff onside and they will help you earn more and save more.All we want is a little increase we are not asking for half the national debt!This management is going the other way staff moral is at an all time low.It will take a lot of time to fix that and that low moral is very very expensive for the company.

[satos]

If it was my choice I would have sent him to Dr Patel now back home in Mumbai hospital.It would have solved two problems.:mad:
Lol,couldn't agree more.Dr Patel will sort him out.

[Capt Wally]

.........."BLF Goon" (Builders & Labourers Federation?) Yr correct QF has huge profits & that came at a great sacrifice, the staff & it's moral.It's unlikely they will share it with the drones!:bored:
CEO's know it's not 'smart' to save money by cutting costs with skilled staff but they (as in the upper management ) have little choice if they want to show 'performance' (& that's what it's all about as far as they are concerned) other than to reduce overheads.
One has to wonder whether all the gripes here of which there justified ever gets to the top & taken note of. Like I've said in others posts major Co's won't let the core buisness be run by the 'shop floor', as in it's base workers. It's simply them & us, that's the way it is these days of dog eat dog in the cold hard world of commercial buisness of which aviation is just another book with a bottom line !.

The likes of QF know only too well that another major strike like WW3 (the pilots dispute) would be very unlikely, we, as in everyone learnt many lessons from that & that is a strong 'stick' for this sad Co.(QF) to hold over it's employees.
"BLF Goon" yr heading on the subject says it all.........."smarter way"...........there in lies the challenge so no one gets hurt.

Always personal opinions here only

CW:)

[teresa green]

Perhaps he had a passadicktome:E