Joyce ‘retires’ early 👍 [Archive]

dragon man

5th Sep 2023, 02:30

OPINIONQantas board makes a martyr of Joyce, but no one buys ithttps://archive.vn/DxDVa/f7ee108c5a773f45efde4e970095474aa7105e1c.webpElizabeth Knight (https://archive.vn/o/DxDVa/https://www.smh.com.au/by/elizabeth-knight-hve4o)Business columnistSeptember 5, 2023 — 12.04pm
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Normal text sizeALarger text sizeAVery large text sizeA Crisis-ridden Qantas Airways has been in desperate need of a circuit breaker, and Alan Joyce’s scalp should have been it.
Instead, Joyce offered himself up, rather than being forced by the board to leave the company.
As sacrifices go – this isn’t much of one. Joyce was already set to leave in two months’ time anyway. https://archive.vn/DxDVa/26d174ebd0bc7fcf785cbc51e9cbb40f637679ea.webp As sacrifices go - this isn’t a big one. Joyce was already set to leave in two months.CREDIT: NINE The optics might go in Qantas’ favour, but the difference in a practical sense is minor.
Instead of acknowledging and taking accountability for being the most complained-about company in Australia, and one that allegedly misled and deceived its customers, the Qantas board has offered hearty praise for Joyce.
The board said Joyce’s willingness to fall on this cash-blunted sword is evidence of him putting the company first and doing what is in the company’s best interests.
The fact that it was Joyce who told Qantas chairman Richard Goyder that he would retire early rather than the board forcing his hand is itself instructive. It recasts Joyce from commercial hard man to being a martyr.
But most people including his staff will never see him in that light.Goyder said on Tuesday that Joyce’s departure was “against his [Joyce’s] every instinct” because “Alan operates at 100 per cent all the time and would see the challenges [which Qantas now has] were his to deal with”.‘Regretful, but appropriate in the circumstances’At a hastily convened board meeting on Monday night, Goyder sought feedback from each director on Joyce’s offer to go. He said that the “overwhelming response was that [Joyce’s departure] was regretful, but appropriate in the circumstances”.
The board understood the incoming chief executive Vanessa Hudson needed clean air to move ahead, but directors were not prepared to push Joyce. This is despite the fact that the company’s share price has been falling since the ACCC announced its legal action against Qantas at the end of last week.
The jump in the value of Qantas stock on the news of Joyce’s departure suggests that even his rusted-on shareholder supporters understood that he had now become toxic.
Asking Joyce to leave would have been an impossible difficult backflip for Goyder, who has regularly described him as the most talented chief executive in the country. Play Video
https://archive.vn/DxDVa/4b8b00bc1fd12a712a308378156f1464ff36de33.jpg (https://archive.vn/DxDVa#) https://archive.vn/DxDVa/4b8b00bc1fd12a712a308378156f1464ff36de33.jpg (https://archive.vn/DxDVa#)
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4:09 (https://archive.vn/DxDVa#)Qantas CEO Alan Joyce's shock departure (https://archive.vn/DxDVa#)
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce will walk away from the airline's top job two months earlier than expected.
Thus right to the end, it was Joyce calling the shots.
Now two questions remain that will really test the board.
The first is its willingness to claw back any of Joyce’s long-term incentive bonuses that remain in escrow.
It is a matter that Goyder says has yet to be decided. It will doubtless depend on how the case made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission plays out. The competition regulator has accused the airline of selling seats on flights it had already cancelled – the so-called ghost flights.
There is $24 million potentially on offer for Joyce, some of which will be at the board’s discretion.
The regulator has also come down hard on Qantas for its poor record of cancelling flights – and disputes the airline’s explanation that the cancellations are due to forces outside its control, like air traffic control or weather. Cancellations are often Qantas’ attempt to optimise its network or manage landing slots, the competition watchdog claims.
The next test for the Qantas board will be its willingness to reframe how it prioritises its stakeholders.
Hudson has the opportunity to repair the airline’s damaged brand by listening to its customers’ frustrations, including their inability to redeem their classic rewards points or use their COVID-era flight credits on later flights without having to pay up to double the price.
This is not the legacy Joyce would have wished for himself. He would rather be remembered as the person who managed a Herculean turnaround in performance of the airline to produce a record profit nudging $2.5 billion.
Seems his last major decision didn’t go to plan. Rather than going down in history as an aviation martyr, it’s clear this is a CEO heading for the departure lounge with a blemished record.

dr dre

5th Sep 2023, 02:34

All the negative press the company has been receiving lately has been focused on AJ. His departure will probably be the catalyst for the airline to have its reputation renewed in the wider public. At the coalface the engagement issues with staff will take longer to fix and be an actual issue for VH. However I suspect that will be played out mostly behind closed doors, and in the short term I can’t see VH cop as much bad press as AJ.

SHVC

5th Sep 2023, 02:39

ersa

5th Sep 2023, 02:45

He will known for forcing people to take a vaccine , that didn't stop transmission or help in anyway to stop the spread, in order to board a qantas plane internationally.

SOPS

5th Sep 2023, 02:46

GT has been on Perth radio saying what a honourable person AJ is and what a great job he did at Qantas. 🤮🤮

dr dre

5th Sep 2023, 02:49

He will known for forcing people to take a vaccine , that didn't stop transmission or help in anyway to stop the spread, in order to board a qantas plane internationally.

The vast majority of us don’t care about those anti-vax rantings anymore bro. Only the nutter fringe element who have made it such a part of their identity they can’t ever let it go.

itsnotthatbloodyhard

5th Sep 2023, 02:50

“Whether it was in a meeting room, a hangar or a galley, I have always been deeply impressed at the passion and professionalism of all of you.”

(Except for when I called you ‘rogue pilots’ and ‘kamikazes’, and didn’t want you ‘polluting the culture’ of Jetstar.)

Jester64

5th Sep 2023, 03:03

He will known for forcing people to take a vaccine , that didn't stop transmission or help in anyway to stop the spread, in order to board a qantas plane internationally.

Just like McGowan…but don’t start me. Biggest f^ck up of the century yet no one seems acknowledge / remember / give a ****.

Stationair8

5th Sep 2023, 03:04

GT, when did Joyce take the Qantas shares from a $1.00?

V-Jet

5th Sep 2023, 03:13

Vanessa will make every appearance of changing things but I'd be _very_ surprised if anything of real substance changed at all. Dragon Man said it all in post 2 of this thread. She would have been part of (if not a driving force) behind every decision since the lockout and it's Senate inquiry - if not before.

If I were in her seat I know exactly what I would do and it would change staff morale quickly, but it would still take time - a ship the size of Qantas has built up a considerable head of steam over the past 15 years, changing course even 20' will pose problems. Given Vanessa has been an integral part of _ALL_ current decisions and the strategies in place, I really doubt that in a few years time we will be looking back on today and thinking much changed at all.

GT, when did Joyce take the Qantas shares from a $1.00?
GT truth. He's an 'expert' after all:)

Fonz121

5th Sep 2023, 03:17

‘Yes’ stickers!? Vaccines?! Geez there are some clowns in here.

If that’s your take away from this, then you’re as deluded to the wants and wishes of customers as Joyce was.

dr dre

5th Sep 2023, 03:23

‘Yes’ stickers!? Vaccines?! Geez there are some clowns in here.

If that’s your take away from this than you’re as deluded to the wants and wishes of customers as Joyce was.

Most customers want things like better FF conditions, lounges, booking availability etc.

Most staff want better T&Cs and real career progression not outsourcing.

Everything else is just a fringe element injecting their beliefs into the situation.

Pearly White

5th Sep 2023, 03:30

The first thing VH could do for the public would be to remove the yes stickers and support for the campaign. QF will remain neutral I think the punters would be happy with that, and so would the CC and check in staff who are being abused.
Qantas has used indigenous art extensively on aircraft livery since the 1990s - maybe they feel a justifiable sense of obligation to support First nations people?

Lookleft

5th Sep 2023, 03:32

Its even more basic than that. Most customers and staff just want to be treated as though you matter to the airline and not a drag on the bottom line.

Pearly White

5th Sep 2023, 03:43

GT has been on Perth radio saying what a honourable person AJ is and what a great job he did at Qantas. 🤮🤮
Just trying to cement his Chairman's Lounge membership for another two years.

Cloudee

5th Sep 2023, 04:15

Qantas has used indigenous art extensively on aircraft livery since the 1990s - maybe they feel a justifiable sense of obligation to support First nations people?
What about those aboriginal people that want to vote no?

tail wheel

5th Sep 2023, 04:42

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1034x742/qantas_7ac2f3f298a4f7614be69c5fe4da588b62b54fbf.jpg
Gold!

joe_bloggs

5th Sep 2023, 05:15

Is he really “retiring” or is it a choice of words to spin/soften the whole 15 year debacle?

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

5th Sep 2023, 05:18

If she can knock out some quick-fire EBAs with good improvements to win back staff, re-employ the QF ground handlers, remove political aircraft stickers and agendas from the airline, improve the customer experience, fix the busted aircraft and order lots more new ones … she may just have a chance at succeeding.
What does she do after lunch?

bb_turn

5th Sep 2023, 05:18

I would rather him being a CEO than a serial killer because they seam close to me ATM IMO

lucille

5th Sep 2023, 05:22

Sorry guys. Your sentiments will matter little to the greasy goblin, he’s walking away with a $5 million bonus and laughing his head off at us.

Does Albo’s kid still retain CC membership?

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

5th Sep 2023, 05:29

The first thing VH could do for the public would be to remove the yes stickers and support for the campaign.

I doubt that will happen. Removing the stickers will be implied support for the No campaign, irrespective of any company announcements as to why, and they don't need the PR fire that will bring from the looney fringe right now.

QF will remain neutral I think the punters would be happy with that, and so would the CC and check in staff who are being abused.

Are they really though? As much as I disagree with it, it's only on 3 aircraft running wildly disparate routes.

SHVC

5th Sep 2023, 05:43

Qantas has used indigenous art extensively on aircraft livery since the 1990s - maybe they feel a justifiable sense of obligation to support First nations people?

By First Nations you mean aboriginal I’m guessing? Just because I’m voting no does not mean I don’t support or dislike aboriginal people. But, this is not the forum to discuss that.

Chris2303

5th Sep 2023, 06:34

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-05/qantas-alan-joyce-fall-from-grace-qatar-accc-flights-shares/102810986

C441

5th Sep 2023, 06:37

gordonfvckingramsay

5th Sep 2023, 07:55

Dear Ms Hudson,

Don’t fvck it up!

You have taken the reigns at the lowest safe altitude for Qantas. You MUST climb! If you continue this trajectory, YOU will be at the helm when we hit the deck. Read that again and let it sink in!

Good luck,

Long suffering travellers and Qantas staff

Ollie Onion

5th Sep 2023, 08:08

BuzzBox

5th Sep 2023, 08:22

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1606x1062/screen_shot_2023_09_05_at_4_19_29_pm_9692ba71d27dc12fcbd518b f4acf6706ab5e9f4e.png
The West Australian, 5 September 2023

airspace alpha

5th Sep 2023, 08:40

You’re all kidding yourselves if you think he’s gone. Seeing his mum and an Antarctic cruise?- Just a short vacation. He isn’t going to b#gger off to a Caribbean island or anything else- he’ll still be a presence in aviation. But where?

Some practical possibilities first:
CEO of British Airways perhaps? God knows they need the help. Sean Doyle, watch your backside.
Or taking it up another level- IAG? Luis Gallego is doing a decent job but you never know.
Or even higher- a position with IATA? Willie Walsh may need to watch out.

Some unlikely thoughts:
Aer Lingus. This is where he came from and he may ache to go back- but really it’s a small fish. But, then again, a lunch with Michael O’Leary could always change the game.
Any Middle East Airline- the traditional “next stop” of airline CEO’s. For obvious personal reasons, no chance.
Cathay Pacific. A basket case and getting worse. But the Chinese hate Swire and are doing their damndest to ruin the place so Ronald Lam may face competition.
Virgin Australia. Jane Hrdlicka seems secure but Bain capital? Now there is a position he might like!

Of course there could always be:
Bonza. With his capital he could probably BUY the outfit outright. Tim Jordan be on guard.
Beond. A flight of fancy but maybe a safe haven for his money.
Rex. Now here’s a thing- Rex. A call to Lim Kim Hai in Singapore could find John Sharp rueing his past comments on Qantas.

Or, shudder, a board position with CASA?

Any suggestions

morno

5th Sep 2023, 08:43

How about a gaol cell in Long Bay for insider trading?

gordonfvckingramsay

5th Sep 2023, 09:03

Doesn’t he know that slinking out the back door is no guarantee that the law doesn’t apply to him? Especially now he’s persona non grata in Canberra. His hubris has blinded him to two things: 1) The hatred he has earned from the entire Australian population, and. 2) The fickle nature of his friends in Canberra.

Ollie Onion

5th Sep 2023, 09:19

gordonfvckingramsay

5th Sep 2023, 09:40

I am sure he will sleep soundly with the $100 million plus he has taken in wages, bonuses and shares. I have never worked for someone who so openly sees his highly skilled people as a total drag on the company and sees them as a cost cutting area where his bottom line can be improved.

He will struggle to enjoy being Alan right now. He will be living with the fear of legal action curtailing his freedom. I wouldn’t want to be Alan. The hundred million you speak of is about as secure as unpaid taxes until he’s exonerated.

Mr Mossberg

5th Sep 2023, 09:58

He will struggle to enjoy being Alan right now. He will be living with the fear of legal action curtailing his freedom. I wouldn’t want to be Alan. The hundred million you speak of is about as secure as unpaid taxes until he’s exonerated.

You are kidding right? If you think Joyce will do time, if you think he will face charges as an individual, if you think he will face any financial penalty then you live in a fantasy land.

The bloke is a psychopath, he just doesn't care. He couldn't care less what any of you think, if he were to read this thread he would laugh.

gordonfvckingramsay

5th Sep 2023, 10:04

You are kidding right? If you think Joyce will do time, if you think he will face charges as an individual, if you think he will face any financial penalty then you live in a fantasy land.

The bloke is a psychopath, he just doesn't care. He couldn't care less what any of you think, if he were to read this thread he would laugh.

Go on, list his (legitimate) friends in high places or his legal defence. I feel your frustration but he’ll face the music.

Mr Mossberg

5th Sep 2023, 10:16

Mate, I am so NOT frustrated. I learned pretty early in the piece that people don't get what they deserve in life, good or bad. And there's no point hoping every waking hour that turds like Joyce get whats coming to them. It simply won't happen, he walks away a very wealthy person because he literally was the smartest person in any room he was in.

It's the way the law is in Australia, white collar crime prosecutions are rare and when it does happen it's slap on the wrist stuff. The best anyone can hope for is that he spends a **** tonne of money on legal fees pre-emptively trying to head off trouble.

Lead Balloon

5th Sep 2023, 10:28

His defence to what charges, precisely?

Global Aviator

5th Sep 2023, 10:52

White collar crime in the States of Australia very rarely get anything but a hefty fine. Do some googling, maybe even an old QF one.

I still stand behind what I said in other posts, how can the CFO now CEO be taken seriously?

QF marketing need to get a move on and fast!

dragon man

5th Sep 2023, 11:47

More gold from Joe
https://archive.md/Jx9wM/c7303bb2dd0a7b2cdb147084087488e9dac3a9aa.pngJoyce’s parmesan waft trumps Goyder’s humility cologneJoe Aston (https://archive.md/o/Jx9wM/https://www.afr.com/by/joe-aston-hveym)ColumnistSep 5, 2023 – 6.55pm
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On Tuesday, veteran Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce threw himself under the Airbus, departing the airline’s Mascot bunker two months early in richly deserved ignominy.
It turns out a little microdosing (https://archive.md/o/Jx9wM/https://www.afr.com/rear-window/qantas-board-microdosing-reality-freebasing-delusion-20230903-p5e1nh) can go a long way.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder emphasised (https://archive.md/o/Jx9wM/https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/goyder-promises-a-more-humble-qantas-as-joyce-crashes-out-20230905-p5e22x) that it wasn’t the Qantas board’s decision for Joyce to leave early: it was Joyce’s own decision, even though “it goes against every one of his instincts”. https://archive.md/Jx9wM/a18ccaa1b7d9a5a7a326b61cfd4490b5b11ec4c9.webp The highlight of Richard Goyder’s stewardship of Coles was its Queensland pubs allowing children in its poker machine rooms. Rhett Wyman What about your instincts, Uncle Rich? Do you even have any? Oh, that’s right – you said Joyce shouldn’t leave early, that you weren’t one for “knee-jerk reactions”.
What Goyder does have, it turns out, is chutzpah. “I think it’s a time for humility, and I think you’ll see plenty of that as well,” he said. Humility – that will be new, won’t it Australia? That sure will be terrific. But where was Goyder’s humility when Qantas was force-feeding its customers innovative new forms of physical and financial torture and his haughty response was to insist that Joyce is “the best CEO in Australia by the length of a straight”?
Goyder wasted no time on Tuesday flicking the switch to the burnishing of his own credentials, citing his success turning around Coles as the CEO of Wesfarmers when Coles and Woolworths were “the two most hated businesses in Australia”.
“I will get to work on these things, and we’ll do what we need to do. And I think my role in that is pretty important.”
This is a little advertisement, entitled: please keep me. Uncle Rich has the experience for this kind of adversity, see? He’s the turnaround guy. He’s virtually indispensable. “I allowed this peat fire to burn out of control but now you need me because I bring the humility.” He can reach into his shaving cabinet to find the bottle of humility cologne he’s been saving for just this occasion. A couple of splashes will make everything right.
Yet Qantas is only in this dire mess today precisely because Goyder has utterly failed to step up and do what needed to be done.
Coles is actually a great analogy. Goyder massively overpaid for the supermarket giant in 2007 and Wesfarmers’ return on equity over the cycle never recovered (https://archive.md/o/Jx9wM/https://www.afr.com/rear-window/wesfarmers-bunnings-blues-have-richard-goyder-under-qantas-bus-20180213-h0w01w). You sure as **** know the price is too high when Solomon Lew is an enthusiastic seller. Wesfarmers’ stock then collapsed in the GFC and Goyder had to raise equity – reaming retail shareholders who couldn’t stump up – to keep the whole show afloat.
It is true that Coles had totally lost the confidence of its customers under chairman Rick Allert and CEO John Fletcher (who admitted when he arrived at Coles that he hadn’t set foot in a supermarket in 25 years). But Goyder didn’t turn around Coles. UK grocery gun Ian McLeod did. And did Goyder ask Allert, the chairman who presided over Coles’ descent, to stay on and offer classes in humility? Dumb question.
The highlight of Goyder’s stewardship of Coles was its Queensland pubs allowing children in its poker machine rooms and luring punters to those pokies with advertising for their free kids’ clubs.
In 2009, anti-pokies campaigner Paul Bendat took out a full-page ad in the Cambridge Post, the community newspaper in Goyder’s leafy suburb of Peppermint Grove, with a photo of Goyder and the headline “Have you seen this man?” Coles overhauled its practices within days. https://archive.md/Jx9wM/300c1f26e17dc19e62e032c4fbfb6cbc5cc15d6b.webp A July 2009 full-page advertisement in the Cambridge Post, the community newspaper in Richard Goyder’s Perth suburb of Peppermint Grove. Bendat understood perfectly what is most important to Richard Goyder, and that’s the myth of Richard Goyder, the professional good bloke. Nothing’s changed. He breathes at a higher altitude. He is literally the chairman of the Chairman’s Lounge, the pope of Australia’s power clique. He is grand poobah of the AFL. He is chairman of Woodside – basically a sheikh in Western Australia.
And who is he, really? He is every man to everybody, whoever you want him to be. He’s usually unflappable, but his feathers are plainly ruffled now that he’s spruiking his turnaround bona fides.
Goyder hasn’t disclosed the only thing we all want to know, which is the price he paid – with shareholders’ money – for Alan’s early departure. Remember, the best lies are by omission. The only reason the board hasn’t told us what they’re doing in relation to Joyce’s bonuses is that telling us would cause a furore.
We’ll know Joyce’s bonus outcomes when Qantas releases its annual report this month – probably at 7pm on a Friday night. Uncle Rich may have to bring forward the AFL grand final by a couple of weeks to bury the story.
Joyce has had some ups and downs, you just have to take a 22-year horizon. Now he’s moving on in the best interests of Qantas – that’s just Alan to a ‘t’! – but at what price? Where is the asterisk?
We know the price for shareholders: $15 billion of delayed fleet capex starting this year. We know ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb’s price of at least $250 million; that hypothetical fine only double what shareholders paid the f---er over the past 15 years. The price is the triple whammy of having ****ful old planes in the sky, the huge bill to replace them and the increased political scrutiny translating to greater competition.
Cass-Gottlieb hit Joyce between the eyes with her stun gun on Thursday, and he’s been stumbling around in the kill pen ever since. That’s how it goes before they slit your throat. But even in his compromised state, he would’ve been negotiating. Everything’s a transaction in Alan’s world. “I’ll go quietly, I’ll go early, but give me one last $4.3 million sweetener and my free First Class golden tickets for life.”
Sitting in Vanessa Hudson’s in-tray on Wednesday morning will be the world’s largest, overflowing sick bag. The parmesan waft of Joyce will haunt the Qantas headquarters. It will long linger in the nose of every customer sitting in every soiled seat on every senescent 737. Uncle Rich will be running up and down the aisles spraying his scent of humility.
Goyder was re-elected at Qantas’ annual meeting last year when very little of the company’s appalling conduct had come to light. Yet he’s now adamant that shareholders need him to stay and preside over the airline’s brand turnaround. If he had any balls at all, he would voluntarily put himself up for election at the AGM on November 3.
He could stand on his record and own his decisions – Joyce’s early departure not being one of them! Uncle Rich could defend his customary decision, which is to make no decision. He might be advocating humility but not shame, because he clearly doesn’t have any.
All of these years hanging tight with Alan Joyce, the man with the enchanted spectacles, seems to have blessed Uncle Rich with a vivid imagination of his own. He’s now the only person in Australia who sees himself as part of the solution, not part of the problem.
Customers, regulators and major shareholders could take out a billboard in Mosman Park asking his neighbours, “Have you seen this man?” It wouldn’t make a whiff of difference.

soseg

5th Sep 2023, 13:47

He will known for forcing people to take a vaccine , that didn't stop transmission or help in anyway to stop the spread, in order to board a qantas plane internationally.

2021 called. Wanted to let you know that nobody cares. **** off

CaptainInsaneO

5th Sep 2023, 18:38

Ahhhh Geoffrey Thomas. I hate to tell you but the Qantas share price was $4.85 in January 2008, not long before Alan Joyce took the CEO reigns. :rolleyes:
It did plummet to just on $1 but that was after Alan took control. A cynic would suggest (and many did at the time) that his long term bonus shares would vest nicely based on his allocation at the floor price during that period.

QAN was $6.34 in Nov '07 - a year before AJ
I'd think the average age of the fleet was much younger and there were many more employees at the company then too.
Look where they are now..

PoppaJo

5th Sep 2023, 19:22

I think the sad part here, is that Joyce did retire on his own accord.

The Board just sat around….and did nothing.

What hope does the future have.

dragon man

5th Sep 2023, 20:38

Hopefully this plays out throughout Australia and he has well and truly shat in his nest.

CHAIRMAN JOYCE ‘IS LEAD IN SADDLEBAGS FOR THEATRE GROUP’Alan Joyce’s post-Qantas role as chair of the Sydney Theatre Company has come under attack from a senior arts figure who warns of fallout from the airline’s damaged standing in the community.

Michael Lynch, whose international career includes five years as general manager of the STC, said Mr Joyce and the board should consider whether he can remain as chair in light of the revelations about Qantas and cancelled flights.

“I think he should consider his options,” Mr Lynch said.

“In my view, he should consider whether the damage that has been done to the Qantas brand is not going to have collateral impact on the STC brand.”

Mr Joyce was named chair of the STC in March, succeeding former CBA chief Ian Narev.

Since 2019, Mr Joyce has also been a board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Adelaide-based academic Ruth Rentschler, who has made a study of arts boards, said negative perceptions about Mr Joyce in the community could harm the STC’s ability to attract financial support.

“You have to take the community with you, and if the community is not in favour of your chair, it could have unintended consequences, fairly or unfairly,” she said. “That may affect philanthropic income. The issue is one of corporate social responsibility.”

Mr Joyce and his husband Shane Lloyd are among STC’s donor “angels” and have given at least $100,000.

A senior arts leader who did not want to be named said he believed the controversy about Mr Joyce and Qantas would pass and not harm the STC.

But Mr Lynch said Mr Joyce’s presence was a liability when the arts sector continued to struggle after Covid.

“I think the board needs to think about it,” he said. “It’s not lead in the saddlebags that I would want to be carrying into the next couple of years

dragon man

5th Sep 2023, 21:20

Everyone is piling in now.

National (https://www.news.com.au/national)

OPINIONOpinion: ‘Good riddance to Alan Joyce’ as Qantas chief executive officerQantas boss Alan Joyce has stepped down from the job but not before turning the once beloved national institution into a “hated” airline, says Caleb Bond.
https://resources.news.com.au/author-profiles/900c134e-764f-4a77-b2bf-6cdc2a1a55d8.jpeg (https://www.skynews.com.au/the-team/calebbond)Caleb Bond (https://www.skynews.com.au/the-team/calebbond)3 min read
September 6, 2023 - 6:53AMYou just watched
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announces immediate retirement

Alan Joyce will retire as Qantas Group CEO two months early, with chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson taking over the role.

Goodbye, Alan Joyce – don’t let the Chairman’s Lounge door hit you on the way out.

Have you ever seen anyone so quickly turn a beloved national institution into a viscerally hated, burning dumpster fire?

Your readership numbers – much like the record-setting profit numbers Mr Joyce recently squizzed on the Qantas balance sheet – don’t lie.

Stories about Qantas and the near-daily revelations of new woes have been doing the business. My email inbox was clogged with viewer correspondence after talking about Qantas on Sky News last week.

Australians are angry. They’re angry because their airline – the national carrier, the flying kangaroo, the spirit of Australia – has gone down the toilet.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/342c4d9b5dc32ae173512cc950c420c6
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has announced he will retire from the airline two months earlier than planned. Picture: Getty ImagesQantas may be owned, in law, by its shareholders. But in reality it is owned by Australians.

Mr Joyce severely underestimated that the airline’s success existed largely through goodwill and sentimentality. He managed to blow that up overnight by taking advantage of it.

He was in 2017 made a Companion of the Order of Australia – the country’s highest civil award – for, among other things, “eminent service to the aviation transport industry”.

Eminent service to its degradation, more like.
First it was successfully lobbying the federal government to deny Qatar Airways (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/qantas-boss-alan-joyce-says-airfares-will-fall-after-25b-profit/news-story/5226fa649e583cb432fecfe3d2d059fe) a few more flights into the country, supposedly in the “national interest”.Joyce's Qantas highs & lows

https://multitools.newscdn.com.au/multitools/timeline/content/1693877705992/Alan-Joyce-timeline_nZhyurrnE.jpg
1996After studying physics, maths and management in Dublin, Ireland, Alan Joyce moves to Australia.

Then we learnt Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s son had, for some reason, been gifted a membership (https://www.news.com.au/travel/qantas-boss-alan-joyce-invites-anthony-albaneses-23yearold-son-to-elite-chairmans-lounge/news-story/b3785f5d6f6821779b292e296924c2c0) to the Chairman’s Lounge.

Next it was a record profit of $2.5 billion after tax while flyers faced worse service and higher airfares.

Never fear, though. Mr Joyce told a Senate inquiry (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/i-will-not-question-qantas-boss-alan-joyce-refused-to-answer-at-feisty-inquiry/news-story/cb53a6f8a72186dbdbd7faedb93c0118) last week that airfares were declining – not that anyone has seen any evidence.

Along came allegations of slot hoarding, whereby Qantas would cancel flights it never intended to run so other airlines couldn’t use airport gates.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/70df9a51906e0412fa4b33bb1703db45 Australians have grown frustrated by our national carrier. Picture: NCA NewswireWe found out it was holding on to hundreds of millions of dollars of unclaimed flight credits that were set to expire. On that they were forced to sheepishly back down.

And the final nail in the coffin was allegations from the ACCC that Qantas was not only cancelling flights to shut-out other airlines but continuing to sell seats on those flights, thereby ensuring they had your money tied up in those ill-fated flight credits.

All of this happened in barely a month, Mr Joyce squirming in front of the senate committee and destroying both his and his employer’s reputation by the minute.

He didn’t want to face the music elsewhere. I invited him to be interviewed on Sky News last Wednesday – the same day former treasurer Peter Costello said Qantas was one of the most powerful players in Canberra – and he refused.

Now the Qantas board belatedly does what it had little choice of avoiding by bringing forward his retirement by two months (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/alan-joyce-retires-as-qantas-ceo-two-months-early/news-story/c4f3b1025d81970cdb3d6e3ff1c048e4) with just one day’s notice.

Mr Joyce said leaving early was “the best thing I can do under these circumstances”.

Under the circumstances, perhaps. But I dare suggest he would have been better off protecting the reputation of Qantas by not ripping off the country.
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/aa2a308bb08c69078e6d98b4e9643aef Alan Joyce’s exit come as Qantas is embroiled in controversy.And he leaves with an extra $24 million in hand, anyway, so what does he care?

Mr Joyce’s arrogance has done irreparable damage. Australians don’t like arrogance and we particularly don’t like it from those we hold dear – like Qantas.

But as sordid and disappointing as all this has been, it has proven one thing to be true – that the power of the consumer can ultimately trump all.More Coveragehttps://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/43b8037cf6575d30808804067a40b9e9 (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-critics-brutal-reactions-to-ceo-alan-joyces-early-exit/news-story/2f328bb165c80b5b6b2ea041a11c5e23)Brutal reaction to Joyce’s early exit (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-critics-brutal-reactions-to-ceo-alan-joyces-early-exit/news-story/2f328bb165c80b5b6b2ea041a11c5e23)
https://content.api.news/v3/images/bin/43b8037cf6575d30808804067a40b9e9 (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/alan-joyce-retires-as-qantas-ceo-two-months-early/news-story/c4f3b1025d81970cdb3d6e3ff1c048e4)Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to resign tomorrow (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/alan-joyce-retires-as-qantas-ceo-two-months-early/news-story/c4f3b1025d81970cdb3d6e3ff1c048e4)Mr Joyce thought he had one up on his passengers. He didn’t. Even if he leaves with tens of millions in bonuses, he has had his derrière served to him on a platter by the Australian people.

Don’t expect that anger to dissipate. If Qantas wants to recover from this, it must prove why.

Qantas lived and died on loyalty. When that loyalty wasn’t returned, Australians showed Mr Joyce who was really in charge.

V-Jet

5th Sep 2023, 21:45

More gold from Joe

Wow Dragon. Can’t believe that type of article is being published!

I was incensed when Joyce got away with the lockout and IMPROVED their reputations by doing so! He wasn’t acting alone, everyone needs to know Vanessa was right there, as was the kneeling sycophant Olivia (see Senate inquiry footage) among many others in the current management ‘team’, He did NOT destroy the culture of an untouchable icon without total support and suggestive encouragement from the whole ‘team’ - Goyder down.

Their behaviour wasn’t good before the lockout, after being emboldened by the adulation of their adoring fans for effectively holding CHOGM to ransom they got away with absolute murder afterwards.

Vanessa deserves no holiday from the press, Without wanting to immediately use the Nazi’s as an example, it’s famous enough for everyone to follow the analogy. Letting the Board and senior managers of Qantas off the hook for the last 20+ years of asset and culture stripping would be like saying there was no need for Nuremburg Trials and the Nazi’s should have been left in charge of Germany by the Allies because Hitler had committed suicide and WWII along with the Holocaust was entirely that one persons fault.

BlankBox

5th Sep 2023, 22:49

GT has been on Perth radio saying what a honourable person AJ is and what a great job he did at Qantas. 🤮🤮

https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/companies/hundreds-of-millions-accc-calls-for-qantas-to-be-hit-with-heavy-fine-20230901-p5e198.html

...huh???

RodH

5th Sep 2023, 23:30

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/300x168/joyce_a6e12d2c17d4067693771755f5df6a8ff6db344e.jpg

Chronic Snoozer

5th Sep 2023, 23:52

After the grounding in 2011, the airline continued to sell tickets for three hours.(@4.18) Apparently, that was a mistake, even though the grounding, which no-one knew about, had 'a lot' of planning. Still doing it a decade later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7t4UJd3xIQ

What goes around, comes around.

John Eacott

6th Sep 2023, 00:36

Apologies if this has been posted already, but I chuckled!

https://scontent-syd2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/344375381_200305058990688_8233246708899933854_n.jpg?_nc_cat= 108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=49d041&_nc_ohc=tJoaLXIGHFYAX_YbYa9&_nc_ht=scontent-syd2-1.xx&oh=00_AfBtlBQ7-a4XwAPV1rcdIvw_ATLbOtC6CxBNor1ZETQAaA&oe=64FDAE4D

HongKongflu

6th Sep 2023, 01:11

The board and other senior managers have a lot to answer for here too. They helped this guy gut the airline, dupe the Australian taxpayer & destroy goodwill. They helped him ruin the culture whilst making themselves very wealthy in the process. They, along with Alan have left behind a big mess and a toxic workplace culture, not to mention a customer base that feels cheated. It's a shameful outcome that they (& Alan) will get to keep the money and pay no consequences.

Pearly White

6th Sep 2023, 04:08

What about those aboriginal people that want to vote no?
What about them? It appears to me they are very much in the minority.

Some of the First Nations people I've heard speak about voting No are saying they want to move direct to a Treaty. I think the consultative plan goes like this: Uluru Statement > Constitutional Recognition > Voice > Treaty.

Pearly White

6th Sep 2023, 04:12

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/300x168/joyce_a6e12d2c17d4067693771755f5df6a8ff6db344e.jpg
This cartoon represents his legacy accurately. The online media is flogging him for it today.

https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/work/2023/09/05/qantas-workers-alan-joyce-exit
https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/06/qantas-pwc-rio-tinto-crown-the-banks-something-rotten-in-australian-business/

Cloudee

6th Sep 2023, 04:56

What about them? It appears to me they are very much in the minority..

Is that right? I wasn’t aware there’d been a count.

V-Jet

6th Sep 2023, 05:09

[QUOTE=Pearly White;11497903]This cartoon represents his legacy accurately. The online media is flogging him for it today.

1) The cartoon lays the blame entirely at Joyce's feet. Joyce is not the only culprit by a long shot.
2) I like the flogging concept though. I'm sure both current and ex employees would be happy to chip in for a set of stocks that could be installed outside QCC, maybe a rotation of volunteers to collect vegetable matter from Coles etc (not as convenient now Flight Catering doesn't exist) to provide good old fashioned entertainment for the masses - the technique worked from Roman times almost throughout the Middle Ages. Might also do a power of good for the next engagement survey!

blubak

6th Sep 2023, 05:34

Wow Dragon. Can’t believe that type of article is being published!

I was incensed when Joyce got away with the lockout and IMPROVED their reputations by doing so! He wasn’t acting alone, everyone needs to know Vanessa was right there, as was the kneeling sycophant Olivia (see Senate inquiry footage) among many others in the current management ‘team’, He did NOT destroy the culture of an untouchable icon without total support and suggestive encouragement from the whole ‘team’ - Goyder down.

Their behaviour wasn’t good before the lockout, after being emboldened by the adulation of their adoring fans for effectively holding CHOGM to ransom they got away with absolute murder afterwards.

Vanessa deserves no holiday from the press, Without wanting to immediately use the Nazi’s as an example, it’s famous enough for everyone to follow the analogy. Letting the Board and senior managers of Qantas off the hook for the last 20+ years of asset and culture stripping would be like saying there was no need for Nuremburg Trials and the Nazi’s should have been left in charge of Germany by the Allies because Hitler had committed suicide and WWII along with the Holocaust was entirely that one persons fault.
Spot on there, him & his equally tarnished side kicks who agreed with everything he did whilst at the same time lining their pockets & continually telling everyone how hard they worked to look after their people & the customers.
How any of them can sleep at night is beyond me, unfortunately his highest level supporters will survive as the fungus at the top remains pretty well intact.

KRviator

6th Sep 2023, 05:56

markis10

6th Sep 2023, 07:44

I heard a rumour Alan was in BNE the other night to prove anyone could drive a tug when an engine was hit and written off on VH-EBN ( according the the Townsville refueller :uhoh:)

SOPS

6th Sep 2023, 08:53

Which would be $9.18 today, if you were to apply inflation per the RBA's calculator...I don't think I'd be overly happy to have experienced a 30% reduction in share price between joining and leaving a business I was CEO of, when all you've done is gut the place...

But these kinds of "managers" don't give a rats - and we've seen that time and time and time again, yet "they" keep getting away with it. Short of adopting Communism, I'm not smart enough to work out what the answer is.

Wait a minute… the Guru, GT, said the other day that Alan took the share price from $1.00 under his watch. Surely, GT could not be wrong?

Lead Balloon

6th Sep 2023, 09:00

Mention of GT exposes once again why so much of what is reported is dross. Journalists like Joe Aston are rare exceptions. It would be great to let him loose on Airservices and TIBA/TRA, but I suspect he’s a bit busy.

sunnySA

6th Sep 2023, 09:30

...It would be great to let him loose on Airservices and TIBA/TRA...
Indeed.

MickG0105

6th Sep 2023, 09:35

QAN was $6.34 in Nov '07 - a year before AJ
I'd think the average age of the fleet was much younger and there were many more employees at the company then too.
Look where they are now..

Which would be $9.18 today, if you were to apply inflation per the RBA's calculator...I don't think I'd be overly happy to have experienced a 30% reduction in share price between joining and leaving a business I was CEO of, when all you've done is gut the place...

But these kinds of "managers" don't give a rats - and we've seen that time and time and time again, yet "they" keep getting away with it. Short of adopting Communism, I'm not smart enough to work out what the answer is.

Seriously? Is it that difficult to get the actual numbers?

On 28 November 2008 when Joyce took the reins at Qantas the share price opened at $2.51.

Escalating that by CPI gets you to around $3.67. Escalating by the increase in the All Ords over the same period gets you to around $5.14.

itsnotthatbloodyhard

6th Sep 2023, 09:37

Wait a minute… the Guru, GT, said the other day that Alan took the share price from $1.00 under his watch. Surely, GT could not be wrong?

Yes, it dropped under $1 - about four or five years after Alan took over. :mad:

dragon man

6th Sep 2023, 10:34

Yes, it dropped under $1 - about four or five years after Alan took over. :mad:

And if I remember correctly he was given his first big lot of options at $1.10 and they quickly went to $1.80 or so after the huge loss was announced with all the right downs.

artee

6th Sep 2023, 10:55

Did Alan Joyce know? Is this Qantas ‘insider’ trading? (https://michaelwest.com.au/did-alan-joyce-know-is-this-qantas-insider-trading/)

The Qantas board of directors should resign and regulators ought to investigate charging Alan Joyce with insider trading. Michael West reports.

Can Alan Joyce be prosecuted for insider trading? If he knew about the ACCC investigating Qantas’ ‘phantom flights’, which is false and misleading conduct, then the answer is yes.

The ACCC began investigating Qantas last year. By the time Joyce sold $17m worth of his personal Qantas stock in early June, the investigation was in full swing. It was only made public on Thursday, Qantas shares dropped almost 7% on the news to close Friday at $5.82.

An ASX director’s disclosure shows Alan Joyce sold 2,500,000 shares at $6.75 on market on June 1. The ASX had not been notified of the ACCC sting, and Qantas shares have fallen almost 14% since the Joyce sale. Meanwhile, Australian superannuation funds, the stewards of retirement savings for millions of Australians, were not put in the picture as to the ACCC action and are 14% worse off than Alan Joyce as at Friday’s market prices.They did not have the benefit of this material information, that is an impending enforcement action by the competition and consumer regulator, ACCC, against Qantas. This was not disclosed by the board of Qantas, or by Joyce.

The question is, did Joyce himself know? It is possible that he did not, but very unlikely. If he did know, two questions arise: why did he and the board not insist that the information be disclosed to the market under ASX ‘continuous disclosure’ laws, and two, did he inform the board that he was selling?

If Joyce did not know – it is possible but also highly unlikely that the ACCC was dealing with Qantas lawyers who did not tell their superiors – then this would not equate to insider trading. According to the AFR, the ACCC began its investigation (https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/qantas-board-under-pressure-on-bonuses-joyce-s-share-sale-20230901-p5e18f) last year.

If he did know, an insider trading prosecution is plausible, indeed warranted, or else the perception that politicians and regulators are ‘under Qantas’ thumb’ can only deepen; indeed, that there is one rule for the rich and powerful and entirely another for the rest of us.

Section 1043A of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) provides that if a person or company (the “Insider”) possesses inside information, and the Insider knew or ought reasonably to have known that the information was insider information, the Insider must not apply for, acquire, or dispose of, relevant financial products.

Is the ACCC ‘material information’ which needs to be disclosed under the Corporations Act? The maximum penalty for what is alleged by the ACCC is a fine of 10% of annual revenue. If that is not material, what is?
Misleading and deceptive, and material, and profitableWithout trawling through ASIC practice notes and AustLII precedents, it is fair to say that the misleading and deceptive conduct is so substantial as to be material. Qantas sold tickets to thousands of people on no less than 8000 cancelled flights.

Further, whether deliberate or not, they appear to have profited from dudding their customers on an industrial scale. The ACCC only hints at this in their published materials (https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-court-action-alleging-qantas-advertised-flights-it-had-already-cancelled):

“We allege that Qantas made many of these cancellations for reasons that were within its control, such as network optimisation including in response to shifts in consumer demand, route withdrawals or retention of take-off and landing slots at certain airports,” Ms Cass-Gottlieb said.

The key words here are ‘network optimisation’. While is it understandable that in the chaos of the airline’s recovery from Covid, the carrier was short of both aircraft and crew, and scrambling like many other airlines around the world to get back to reliable service, ‘network optimisation’ suggests one reason for the cancelled flights was to stuff more customers into fewer flights to optimise ‘yield’, that is, put more bums on seats, and spend less on jet fuel and staffing costs.

The ACCC will presumably establish whether the cancellations were a deliberate corporate tactic to profiteer at the expense of customers.
Buying your own shares, que?But will ASIC the corporate watchdog pursue Qantas correspondence to establish that Alan Joyce knew about the ACCC investigation and failed to disclose it while profiting as an ‘insider’ at selling his personal shares at high prices.

There is a monumental ethical failure here too, apart from questions of insider trading. That is, Qantas had commenced a share buy-back in February. That is, flush with public funds from the $2.7b in Covid subsidies (including $900m in JobKeeper) it began buying its own shares.

This is an entirely legal, although often very suss, way in which corporations can ramp their own stock to make executive share incentives worth more. The ethical dimension is whether it is appropriate for a chief executive, especially one who possibly has knowledge of a looming explosive regulatory action, to sell his personal shares to unwitting buyers, shares which have been gifted by the taxpayer-subsidised company in performance stock?

The answer to that would be ‘no’. It is a very bad look. Presumably Joyce told the board in advance of the sale (we don’t know this either), which is now equally culpable for this tacky decision, yet the Qantas directors were docile and let it pass. The whole point of performance stock is to retain an executive’s diligence.

The reason Alan Joyce and Qantas are such a big deal, and so worthy of public discussion, is that they represent the worst of corporate excesses, and the inexorable rise of corporate control over governments.
The fall of an icon, the fall in public trustThis was a national icon, a cherished brand, build with the sweat of our ancestors. It is also a symbol for the deterioration of public trust in institutions – and corporate welfare. This at a time when ordinary Australians are doing it tough in a cost of living crisis. It is now a symbol of greed.

Not only is Qantas ‘too big to fail’, a monopolist protected by successive governments, a monopolist run aggressively for the private profit of its executives, a monopolist which exploits its influence over public officials, this corporation profited more than any other from public subsidies – a massive bail-out – during Covid.

It then used this liquidity for its directors, shareholders and executives to profit personally, at the expense of customers.

It was an epic mistake for the previous government, and sadly one supported by the Opposition at the time, to give billions to Qantas in public money with no strings attached. Not a loan, no performance demands, just a gargantuan gift in JobKeeper and assorted aviation hand-outs.

Insofar as Qantas is also a symbol for rampant corporatism, the last government’s pandemic response was to allow Alan Joyce and the Qantas board a free pass to restructure its workforce, to get rid of who it wanted, to impose complex and onerous IR changes which crushed the confidence and morale of its workers. This, even to the point where the Federal Court has made two decisions (now on appeal with the High Court) ruling Qantas had illegally sacked hundreds of its workers.

Customers, as evinced by the ACCC claim, have been treated just as poorly. Yet as Qantas operates as a duopoly with Virgin, the flying public does not have enough choice for this to be considered a ‘free market’. The massive recent $2.5b profit was struck by gouging customers who are captured by lack of choice in a duopoly market.

When Alan Joyce infamously pointed the bone at his customers for Qantas service failures as the group emerged from the pandemic, saying they were not ‘match fit’ (sufficiently ready for flying, hence the queues), it can be said with conviction now that Qantas management is not ethically fit to be stewards of this airline.

In fact the ethical failures are such that, in trashing the Qantas brand, they also constitute incompetence.

Capt Fathom

6th Sep 2023, 11:26

Rene Rivkin was jailed for insider trading…. He bought 50,000 Qantas shares before the sale of Impulse, which earned him a $2500 profit. He was also banned for life from stock broking.

dr dre

6th Sep 2023, 12:27

The market’s reacted somewhat positively to the news.

Share price up 2% today:

Why Qantas shares are pushing higher today (https://www.fool.com.au/2023/09/06/why-atlantic-lithium-piedmont-lithium-qantas-and-syrah-shares-are-pushing-higher/)

VR-HFX

6th Sep 2023, 15:04

Michael West's analysis is on the money. I hope that his hypothesis leads to a thorough investigation.

There is a bigger picture here. Over the past 15 years it is stated that Joyce has taken $125m in remuneration out of Qantas. This is more than the combined remuneration of most of the airline CEO's is Asia. I have done a quick tally and worked out it is more than the CEO's of SQ, MH, TG, CX, CI, KA, JL and NH. By the metrics afforded Joyce, he was running an airline that was better than the combined total of all those airlines I have just listed. In that time he has turned what was TAA into a sub-par domestic carrier with a small international footprint. QF carries less than 15% of the traffic into and out of the country.

In reality, he has left behind a fleet of aged aircraft attached to a FF program, a lot of smoke and more than a few mirrors.

How did this happen? Stupidity of the board and the Australian political class.

Is Qantas the national carrier? No, it is not. It is likely owned more than 50% by foreign interests given the large nominee shareholding.

Why is the Australian public and it's government left to lament the fact that Joyce's business strategy has always been to socialise any losses and privatise all the gains? Because we are all stupid is the only logical conclusion. If that is not true then why did the Australian Government not take a 25%-30% equity stake in the business in exchange for the $2.7bn of taxpayer funds pumped into QF during COVID. Many governments took equity for the bailouts. If the Australian Government had done similar then we could probably still call QF the national carrier.

I wish Ms Hudson no ill but she sure has gleefully taken carriage of a ticking bomb.

Colonel_Klink

6th Sep 2023, 20:14

I wish Ms Hudson no ill but she sure has gleefully taken carriage of a ticking bomb.

She has been stead fast next to Joyce during all of the issues that are plaguing the airline.

As an executive manager it’s hard to think that she was not at least knowledgeable (let alone complicit) in the illegal sacking off staff, ripping off customers by charging for flights that were already cancelled, making it extremely difficult for customers to access refunds for flights they weren’t able to fly, deciding to buy back $100s of millions in shares instead of investing in fleet, etc etc.

She is part of the old guard. Nothing will change. Just another snout in the trough.

dragon man

6th Sep 2023, 20:37

If her first video to staff is anything to go by she doesn’t get it. We have to get back the trust of our customers she says but fails to mention anything about firstly getting back the trust of the staff. Maybe drop the 2 year wage freeze when inflation is running so high, maybe stop threatening staff that if they don’t vote up their EAs they won’t get their back pay.

dragon man

6th Sep 2023, 20:44

‘POOR SERVICE’: QANTAS FAILS TOFLY FOR INVESTORS
Glen NorrisQantas will struggle to restore its tarnished reputation with investors as poor service and expensive fares helped push its shares lower than they were before the arrival of Alan Joyce 15 years ago, fund manager Angus Aitken said.

The Aitken Mount Capital Partners founder said new chief executive Vanessa Hudson is going to have to “massively clear the decks” and accept lower profits as she rebuilds the national carrier.

“We put a sell on Qantas at $6.40 for a simple reason, every time you fly them you see the service is sh*t and the airfares are expensive,” Mr Aitken said.

“Fund managers, mega long on Qantas for long periods of time, could not see anything other than low capital expenditure and high profits due to high airfares and limited new capacity.

“They missed the fact businesses have to do more than just maximise profit to have a great long duration businesses.” A long position means you hold the stock. Qantas shares closed on Wednesday at $5.70, trading below the $5.91 they were at in October 2007.

Mr Aitken said if there was one key lesson from Qantas it was that boards should not let “super star chief executives have too much rope when the financial returns are strong”.

“We have seen it hundreds of times around the world where the CEO thinks they are bigger than the brand and it all blows up for some reason,” Mr Aitken said.

Viridian Financial Group chief investment officer Piers Bolger said the current board, starting with the chair and senior management, needed to take a greater level of accountability.

“Not only does the company need to restore its ‘service’ brand, which will involve a further advertising blitz and potential cost to the bottom line via discounted airfares, it also needs to spend heavily on its ageing fleet,” Mr Bolger said.

The Qantas loyalty program, which continues to be the company’s shining light given the diverse range of partners and its strong cashflow, would be as important as ever as the company moves forward.

Mr Bolger said Qantas had enjoyed the protection of federal governments of both persuasions for a long period of time and had been able to aggressively position itself as the prime aviation business in Australia.

But the recent Senate hearings had clearly demonstrated some basic failings around the business, particularly in relation to transparency across a range of issues, most notably the value of unclaimed flight credits.

“Declining service levels and exorbitant ticket prices out of the pandemic, coupled with record profits and bonuses paid to senior executives, including former CEO Alan Joyce, after the airline received in excess of $2.5bn in government subsidies through Covid relief reflects a business that is simply out of touch with the broader market,” he added.

Hunter Green Institutional Broking director Charlie Green said that even a new leadership team at Qantas would struggle against its history as a “terrible long-term investment”.

“The people who are perhaps crowing are the ones who bought it pre-Covid around $3 but over the long term it has been a very frustrating investment,” Mr Green said.

blubak

6th Sep 2023, 21:08

She has been stead fast next to Joyce during all of the issues that are plaguing the airline.

As an executive manager it’s hard to think that she was not at least knowledgeable (let alone complicit) in the illegal sacking off staff, ripping off customers by charging for flights that were already cancelled, making it extremely difficult for customers to access refunds for flights they weren’t able to fly, deciding to buy back $100s of millions in shares instead of investing in fleet, etc etc.

She is part of the old guard. Nothing will change. Just another snout in the trough.
100% agree, her & a couple of others have been with him for the ride since day 1 & you dont have to go far to find comments they have made about what a great job he has done.
As you say she was the CFO & being in that position there are only 2 possibilities that i see
1, she is fully aware of how tickets were being sold & money held whilst at the same time making it almost impossible for the customers to get refunds
OR
2 she has no idea what the job she was doing required & was being instructed on a day to day basis by her little best mate on how to play the system & make themselves answerable to nobody.

V-Jet

6th Sep 2023, 22:03

Those two points blubak go all the way back to the lockout, if not before. You are absolutely correct.

Lookleft

6th Sep 2023, 23:10

Rene Rivkin was jailed for insider trading…. He bought 50,000 Qantas shares before the sale of Impulse, which earned him a $2500 profit. He was also banned for life from stock broking.

A very good point. He bought those shares because he was told by Geoff Dixon, the Qantas CEO at the time, that Qantas were going to buy Impulse. That was why it was considered insider trading. To sell tickets on flights already cancelled is straightforward fraud which Joyce and Co. would have been aware of. If he is not charged for insider trading then corporate Australia will be given the green light to go as fast and as hard as they can to stuff their pockets with shareholder cash. Its Bond, Skase and Holmes'a'Court all over again.

Lead Balloon

7th Sep 2023, 00:22

FIFY: …will continue to have the green light…

Chronic Snoozer

7th Sep 2023, 01:46

1A_Please

7th Sep 2023, 02:50

I find it mildly intriguing where director Todd Sampson sits in all of this. Presumably brought to the Board as an advertising and marketing specialist, he is now witness to an absolute trashing of the brand by one man. It would be interesting to get his thoughts on the situation and find out whether this all happened despite his advice.
He is a member of the Remuneration Committee so cannot claim to have no part in the ridiculous benefits they allowed AJ to receive. My guess he will say nothing. He has about 250,000 reasons every year to assume this position.

Realistically, up until now, marketing Qantas has not been hard. For general consumption, you simply have to run up an ad with a few bouncing kangaroos, some happy smiling kids in white shirts and a plane flying through the sky and you're done. The formula hasn't changed in 40 years. For corporate, you have Chairman's Lounge which is the greatest piece of legal influence peddling known to Australian business. It is now, when Qantas is well and truly "on the nose" with the public and toxic for the government that Todd's alleged skills may be needed.

dragon man

7th Sep 2023, 03:07

The pile on continues‘All skeleton’: Can Qantas’ new CEO salvage an airline amid the wreckage?'What she needs to realise is that she won’t get customers back until she gets the staff back,' a pilot told Crikey.

MICHAEL SAINSBURY (https://www.crikey.com.au/author/michael-sainsbury/)

SEP 07, 2023

2 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/qantas-ceo-vanessa-hudson-pilots-engineers-plane-damage/#comments)

Give this article
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/CHn3VeEjT90xl666k6UH1bSZgLINh8-Pj7NACwt3aYds6YMV2ncn97bd6qG3p3XgFEoQn3gm306UKWriJYiTq0x499k ubUzIwwuqtZVP7jL23KcjTVQvrs13RymUDAiYyiOrx0zgK9s59UVL7IAwdKV QdSECkg=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1120230824001834138147-original-copy.jpg?w=740INCOMING QANTAS CEO VANESSA HUDSON (IMAGE: AAP/BIANCA DE MARCHI)There was a certain sense of timing when one of Qantas’ oldest long-haul planes, an A330, was damaged by a pushback tug (used to tow vehicles) in Brisbane on Monday night. It happened just as Alan Joyce was penning his resignation letter as Qantas CEO two months early (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/05/alan-joyce-qantas-ceo-resignation-pilots-engineers/), handing the reins to his successor, Vannessa Hudson.

The tug was one of a fleet gifted to company Dnata (https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/qantas-to-outsource-2000-ground-handling-jobs-20201130-p56j4j) in Joyce’s spree of outsourcing and asset sales, which has left the company “like a skinny dingo, all skeleton and barely alive, just getting by in a long drought”, as one engineer put it. He added that the “fat reserves are all but gone. That is how we feel right now. But there is hope that with a bit of rain, things will turn around.”

It was the second twin-aisle plane — after a belt loader hit a 787 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/04/qantas-flights-cancelled-tickets-alan-joyce/) on August 19, according to engineers — that has had major damage inflicted by outsourced, often low-paid and casual staff driving essential ground equipment. “You pay peanuts, you get monkeys,” a Qantas pilot said, adding that such accidents had noticeably increased since Joyce started outsourcing staff and running down on-the-ground resources.
https://ci4.googleusercontent.com/proxy/viRBXcyEChW17GxRODYxXddhFwiUJBAMSEB1NC6pmw5CfMJ70N9hdBwbIoP2 d8qjvuARcLnuM6QzAYq0lBydBTXRDbsaRdiwb7TZe5pVrA=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/aaa.jpgA QANTAS A330 DAMAGED BY A PUSHBACK TUG MANNED BY OUTSOURCED LABOR IN BRISBANE, SEPTEMBER 4 (IMAGES: SUPPLIED/PRIVATE MEDIA)It is this skinny dingo that Hudson must try, somehow, to make healthy once more. And while she has been complicit in the running down of Qantas in her four years as chief financial officer — and 19 years in the finance department before that — the truth is, she’s still been flicked a hospital pass by her old boss.
https://ci5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/QB5gKDs6oqVuaR2VuDiPjVD_BTL573MLrTvv8RauDRjprJF4NlpJLLnmsbUE fKOqL0vncq51OMvuP3lFAnvh0yEmzyLinn8J13RedrKPlcuw7QcV73veTOje LIdoxQtp9moVzmOZwa4aWyXCfnkrmCZlNIAoZLrnMIqa19Y3AlXH=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230627001814965774-original-copy.jpg?w=224&h=120&crop=1 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/05/alan-joyce-qantas-ceo-resignation-pilots-engineers/)‘Good riddance’: in the event of severe turbulence, please eject the CEO (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/05/alan-joyce-qantas-ceo-resignation-pilots-engineers/)Read More (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/05/alan-joyce-qantas-ceo-resignation-pilots-engineers/)When Joyce walked out on Tuesday evening, the charade was up. There was nothing left to sell and the pillaging for the greater corporate good was complete. He had sold everything: the corporate headquarters, sold and leased back; all of the catering centres and the revenue that provided food for customer airlines are gone; the airport terminals, gone; large properties of corporate real estate, gone; the last tract of Qantas land in Sydney flogged off by Joyce for $800 million (https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/logos-consortium-buys-up-qantas-mascot-land) to cover a recent debt crisis.

“Our world-class flight simulators are a shadow of their former selves,” the engineer said. “Joyce wrote down the value of aircraft years back to claim a huge loss on paper, further devaluing Qantas assets. There is nothing left to sell. He gifted all of the cargo loading and ramp equipment to Dnata and Swissport when he sacked 1700 ramp workers. The list goes on.”

The problem for Hudson is that she has been in lockstep with the strategy established by the board and Joyce. As CFO, she was responsible for ripping $1 billion in costs (https://investor.qantas.com/FormBuilder/_Resource/_module/doLLG5ufYkCyEPjF1tpgyw/file/2023FY/QAN-FY23-Investor-Presentation.pdf) out of the company during COVID, including the unlawful sacking (https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/09/qantas-accused-of-wasting-eye-watering-amounts-of-money-defending-sackings#:~:text=The%20high%20court%20on%20Tuesday,handlers% 20in%202020%20was%20unlawful.) of 1700 baggage handlers in a case now waiting for judgment by the High Court. Hudson promised (https://investor.qantas.com/FormBuilder/_Resource/_module/doLLG5ufYkCyEPjF1tpgyw/file/2023FY/QAN-FY23-ASX-Media-Release.pdf) further cost cuts of $300 million only last month.

In her first video address (https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/joyce-takes-off-hudson-straps-in-for-bumpy-ride-20230905-p5e22k) yesterday, she told staff the company needed to get the “balance right” between customers, staff and the business. “Right now, achieving this balance must first start with our customers, and that’s what we will be focused on with our new management team,” she said. It left many of them cold.

“I can’t help but feel that they cut the cancer out but the metastasis has spread already,” one international pilot said. “I laughed when Hudson said she was confident she could count on the help of employees to show customers ‘why we deserve to be their trusted first choice’. Wait a minute, she was part of the management team that burned the place down.”

A Qantas corporate executive had a similar view. “It was pretty bland. References a new management team, but they are really just internal movements. It’s very hard for new people to come into the organisation at a senior level. And then she thanks Alan … embarrassing and cringy, time to move on. I am not sure she is really a break from the past. Time and actions will tell.”

A Qantas engineer said that the maintenance crew had been in a jovial mood on Tuesday. “But we all wait with bated breath for what the next chapter brings. Everyone lives in hope that Vanessa will finally think of more than shareholders and share prices.”

“What she needs to realise is that she won’t get customers back until she gets the staff back,” another pilot said.

Hudson already has industrial problems looming at the Perth-based Network Aviation (NA), where flight attendants restarted negotiations — on Joyce’s last day at the company — after management took fright after they gained protected industrial action. Management has resuscitated an offer it made earlier in the year, but tinkered with to the point that the attendants had had enough, insiders said.

They are hardly treated well. There are multiple stories of flight attendants being left in far-flung Western Australian towns like Geraldton without overnight accommodation. In some instances, they have been forced to sleep on benches in terminals after aircraft breakdowns, insiders told Crikey. COVID-era cost-cutting has seen all pillows and blankets taken off flights and unreturned.

Network Aviation started life as a mining charter specialist, catering to the countless thousands of fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) workers who operate Australia’s mines. But it has expanded into (https://michaelwest.com.au/a-joyceful-farewell-looming-strike-at-qantas-miners-carrier/) regular passenger services, taking over routes from Perth to Darwin, and plans to add flights from Perth to Adelaide and Hobart are well advanced, insiders said. Yet it pays wages that are, in many cases, below award, according to comparisons provided by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots.
https://ci5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/PtcmxUwmDO5hw8-g5P9kWJUSeW5ddRcm-IVALj76g6igOEt-UbdbBUiW2l77iDaHLj1pNu05N5ZcIcZy27GNa1590KEpye0QEW926cKusNTx IWUZ7xT3uvVlVwwV3CjBVACbgdG0_ZE9rVZHrfLiX4M05NCVIlL8N5VKH2aT 6g=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/25_8_23_gorkie_for_crikey_qantas.jpg?w=224&h=120&crop=1 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/08/25/qantas-bloated-profit-underpaid-staff-high-fares/)Qantas’ bloated profit is built on underpaid workers and overpaying passengers (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/08/25/qantas-bloated-profit-underpaid-staff-high-fares/)Read More (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/08/25/qantas-bloated-profit-underpaid-staff-high-fares/)NA pilots voted this week on their own protected industrial action, and pilot sources say the affirmative vote is expected to be near 100%. A stop work looms as pilots demand the closure of the yawning 40% pay gap between them and Qantas mainline pilots for flying essentially the same single-aisle jets (A320 v 737s). Pilots at two other Qantas regional arms, Eastern and Sunstate, are taking similar action.

Any strike action has the capacity to severely throw a major spanner in the mining sector’s operations — heaven forfend. Gina Rinehart and Andrew Forrest would not be happy with Qantas chair, and fellow Western Australian, Richard Goyder.

So Vanessa Hudson has jumped, going on the front foot and flying to Perth today to meet with NA pilots.

The new CEO’s choice is invidious: ”For her sake, I hope she is not going empty-handed,” one insider said. Pilots at NA have told Crikey they are serious about an initial strike for 24 hours. “But of course, if Hudson doesn’t come empty-handed, then everyone will see that the real threat of industrial action gets results.”

It will be the first of many such choices that will reveal, soon enough, whether Hudson is the change the company needs and customers demand, or simply same ****, different channel

lamax

7th Sep 2023, 05:25

The QANTAS board, Vanessa Hudson and all who work under her should heed Don Kendell's quote to his pilots many years ago which was " the customer is your paymaster, not me"

73qanda

7th Sep 2023, 08:14

It will be interesting to see if the new CEO understands how to go about satisfying customers in an airline. My opinion is that salaried staff on a good wage will result in a similar customer experience as the next airline, whereas staff who have pride in their organisation will achieve an excellent customer experience. The cabin crew, check in staff, dispatchers, pilots and Engineers who are proud to be part of their organisation will actively seek to make each flight top notch. They’ll communicate more, and in a different way. They’ll make phone calls to ensure smoother outcomes, they’ll go sick less often and generally be personally invested in doing a great job. Staff who are embarrassed to be associated with their organisations behaviour won’t achieve anywhere near the customer satisfaction.
I suspect many Qantas staff have had their professional pride stripped away little layer by little layer over the last decade. Is it even possible to build it back up? Will the new CEO try? Unsure.

dragon man

7th Sep 2023, 11:01

Nails it

National (https://archive.md/o/d4Khj/https://www.smh.com.au/national)
Aviation (https://archive.md/o/d4Khj/https://www.smh.com.au/topic/aviation-5ut)

OPINIONA mayday message from the flight deck for Qantas’ new CEOhttps://archive.md/d4Khj/23282aeaa51c3538ddb92103cf7f71a50c0952de.webpDavid Evans (https://archive.md/o/d4Khj/https://www.smh.com.au/by/david-evans-p536fs)Former Qantas captainSeptember 7 2023 “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have breaking news from the flight deck: CEO Alan Joyce has just resigned and that’s all I have to say about that.
Mid air - the captain of my Qantas plane just announced: “in breaking news CEO Alan Joyce has just resigned and that’s all I have to say about that”.I wasn’t aboard the same plane as Alice Workman when the news of Joyce’s early departure as Qantas CEO broke. I was flying a non-Qantas aircraft home from Vanuatu because I, and many of my fellow pilots and other staff, took redundancy during COVID.
I worked for Qantas for most of my flying career, the last quarter of a century as an international captain. I had the privilege to work for an airline with an unprecedented safety record, a record I managed to help maintain when, along with four other crew, we nursed the stricken QF32 back to Singapore when the A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure (https://archive.md/o/d4Khj/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5cdlh) in 2010.
We were so proud of that safety record. It was Qantas’ calling card for many years, and it was brought about by like-minded staff who loved turning up to work. Whether it be check-in staff at the airport to service staff onboard, flying the planes or maintaining that complex piece of machinery between flights, we were masters of our craft.
This idyllic picture may be seen through rose-coloured glasses by a person no longer in the business. I will be accused of being a sentimental old fart. However, we built up that level of respect to the point that you, the travelling public, would trust us, the airline, to deliver you and your family to your destination safely and in comfort. You relied upon us. We were proud that you did. And we paid you back for that trust by serving you with the utmost dedication.
But the decline from those who would steer the Qantas ship from the boardroom rather than the cockpit has been on a downward trajectory for many years. This downward trajectory has been described as “moral blindness”, with a focus on the bottom line above all else. https://archive.md/d4Khj/cf8fbd78e4923ad32ba556562ade21447e1d0d9d.webp David Evans at the controls. Vanessa Hudson now in control. CREDIT: ARESNA VILLANUEVA The latest research from Roy Morgan (https://archive.md/o/d4Khj/https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/9321-risk-monitor-moral-blindness-august-31-2023) shows how steeply Australians’ faith in Qantas has dropped, with its brutal workforce management, penny-pinching strategies and terrible recent customer service forcing it from the pedestal of one of the most trusted Australian companies to one of the most distrusted.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine summarises this unprecedented decline in trust over the past few years as moral blindness everywhere, including:

Appalling call centre delays;
Cancelled flights and snail’s pace fare refunds;
Leaders turning a blind eye to the anguish of tens of thousands of once-trusting customers;
Refusing to pay back any of the $2 billion in corporate welfare, despite the company surging back to billion-dollar profitability post-COVID;
Australia’s competition regulator announced it was launching legal action against Qantas for allegedly selling tickets to thousands of flights in 2022 that had already been cancelled.

This blindness has evolved into the plane wreck that is Qantas today. Arrogance and lack of empathy towards those who would entrust their lives to you. The Flying Kangaroo’s slogan somehow changed from The Spirit of Australia to Profit Before Passengers. If you put such a sign outside its Mascot headquarters you would have a truth defence in any defamation case. Play Video
https://archive.md/d4Khj/12f7be97453c3b9295ad215b4d3c66d0697ab5e9.jpg (https://archive.md/d4Khj/again?url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mayday-message-from-the-flight-deck-for-qantas-new-ceo-20230905-p5e27l.html#) https://archive.md/d4Khj/12f7be97453c3b9295ad215b4d3c66d0697ab5e9.jpg (https://archive.md/d4Khj/again?url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mayday-message-from-the-flight-deck-for-qantas-new-ceo-20230905-p5e27l.html#)
Play video
2:07 (https://archive.md/d4Khj/again?url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mayday-message-from-the-flight-deck-for-qantas-new-ceo-20230905-p5e27l.html#)New Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson takes charge today and pledges to rebuild customers' trust (https://archive.md/d4Khj/again?url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-mayday-message-from-the-flight-deck-for-qantas-new-ceo-20230905-p5e27l.html#)
Rebuilding Qantas customers' trust will be a priority for the airline's new boss Vanessa Hudson as she takes charge today.
While all the commentary on Qantas has been about one man, I think it’s important that the incoming CEO remembers the airline built its reputation on the sum of its parts rather than accounting wizardry by the person at the top.
Vanessa Hudson has a corporate task analogous to the one my colleagues and I faced in the frantic cockpit of QF32 above Singapore. A misstep could prove fatal. The Spirit of Australia is about trust, which must be restored between the passengers and the airline.
My message to Hudson is to practise empathy. Open those lines of communication with your travelling clients and have the “Customer Care” centre actually engage with those clients. Simplify the online booking process, so it doesn’t require a degree in computer science to navigate. Do not praise your predecessor for his outstanding work, as under no metric do I consider his work outstanding. And above all else, give people their money back, without restriction, promptly, if for no fault of theirs you don’t fulfil your travel contract.
I hope that the steady hand of Hudson at the controls can turn around its moral compass and steer this Australian icon back on course

cessnapete

7th Sep 2023, 11:26

I am amazed that QF still operates such an old fleet. Outdated elderly B737s and A330, the A380 being a much needed capacity solution. The recent Airbus A321/350 orders being so late mean a few years more with the old uneconomic types. It will also take time to completely train the QF 737 crews to Airbus too.
Sad to read.
AJs mate,Willie Walsh late of BA, had a similar bad press when recovering his Company from near bankruptcy some years ago. But at least he had the foresight to order A320/A321/A350 and 787- 9/10 and 777-300. Many are now in operation and new hulls being delivered monthly. Ditto the A380, all 12 being returned to service within about six months of C19 ending.

RodH

7th Sep 2023, 21:26

I see in the Media that the " Hero Pilot " Richard Dec...........has given his expert opinion as well. QF is saved now that GT and our " hero " reckon all will be well.

Ascend Charlie

7th Sep 2023, 22:37

Actually, I was pleasantly surprised: what Wretched Discrepancy said was pretty fair, he stated what the problems were and how the airline should fix it. He wasn't praising GT or Joyce.

Cat3508

7th Sep 2023, 23:04

I seem to recall, that back in recent history, there was another Joyce, who wasn't too popular either. His ending was pretty terminal, but obviously the latest one will not suffer the same fate, just reviled by almost everyone.

Chronic Snoozer

7th Sep 2023, 23:47

He is a member of the Remuneration Committee so cannot claim to have no part in the ridiculous benefits they allowed AJ to receive. My guess he will say nothing. He has about 250,000 reasons every year to assume this position.

Realistically, up until now, marketing Qantas has not been hard. For general consumption, you simply have to run up an ad with a few bouncing kangaroos, some happy smiling kids in white shirts and a plane flying through the sky and you're done. The formula hasn't changed in 40 years. For corporate, you have Chairman's Lounge which is the greatest piece of legal influence peddling known to Australian business. It is now, when Qantas is well and truly "on the nose" with the public and toxic for the government that Todd's alleged skills may be needed.

If marketing Qantas isn't difficult, why appoint an adman to the board? What was he expected to bring to the table? Because right now there is a bonfire in the press and the Qantas is on it. The past month has been cataclysmic. There's obviously been a failure of governance by the board, too busy sorting through the trinkets and shiny buttons AJ was presenting them. And it shouldn't be too hard to fix the brand by simply not taking the p!ss with customers and staff. MBA curricula will shortly be making room for a new case study.

Poto

8th Sep 2023, 00:33

The recent Airbus A321/350 orders being so late mean a few years more with the old uneconomic types. It will also take time to completely train the QF 737 crews to Airbus too.
They don’t plan to have any 737 crews ‘transfer’ to the Airbus as part of aircraft retirement. Despite what they say! Mainline Domestic is on a slow decline to majority Outsourcing to what are currently ‘Link’ branded companies unfortunately.

dr dre

8th Sep 2023, 00:40

They don’t plan to have any 737 crews ‘transfer’ to the Airbus as part of aircraft retirement. Despite what they say!

The training of current 737 pilots to training and technical roles on the A321XLR is already happening. This comment is so wrong it’s not funny.

FFG 02

8th Sep 2023, 01:01

Realistically, up until now, marketing Qantas has not been hard. For general consumption, you simply have to run up an ad with a few bouncing kangaroos, some happy smiling kids in white shirts and a plane flying through the sky and you're done. The formula hasn't changed in 40 years.

Like this....

https://www.tiktok.com/@matt.and.alex.podcast/video/7275259149548555522?_r=1&_t=8fSUC3Mv7B4

Poto

8th Sep 2023, 02:26

The training of current 737 pilots to training and technical roles on the A321XLR is already happening. This comment is so wrong it’s not funny.
Really? How so? Do you think Mainline is getting 75 321’s? To ‘replace’ 75 737’s while expanding the markets immensely with 29+ 220’s, expanded 320’s NA RPT flying and Alliances E190’s. Or is it a vastly reduced Mainline Domestic plan?

megan

8th Sep 2023, 02:57

gordonfvckingramsay

8th Sep 2023, 03:53

How much can be expected from Vanessa Hudson, in her previous position as Chief Financial Officer would she not have been up to her neck in the payment for cancelled flights affair, she may even been the brains trust who thought up the scheme

Could be a short tenure if that’s true and the ACCC decide to use their teeth.

V-Jet

8th Sep 2023, 05:45

How much can be expected from Vanessa Hudson, in her previous position as Chief Financial Officer would she not have been up to her neck in the payment for cancelled flights affair, she may even been the brains trust who thought up the scheme

I strongly suspect your suppositions are absolutely bang on. I further suspect she was in it a LOT further back than anyone would think.

Mr Mossberg

8th Sep 2023, 05:52

I see in the Media that the " Hero Pilot " Richard Dec...........has given his expert opinion as well.

And it neatly identified who the crew were that were high fiving, wouldn't be hard for QF to work out what flight he was on. Onya Dick :D

Is this the type of thing that QF management would do? Find out who it was and punish them?

Mr Mossberg

8th Sep 2023, 05:54

Could be a short tenure if that's true and the ACCC decide to use their teeth.

This is hilarious, it's like suggesting that Joyce will face the courts on individual charges, for anything, insider trading etc.

blubak

8th Sep 2023, 06:05

I strongly suspect your suppositions are absolutely bang on. I further suspect she was in it a LOT further back than anyone would think.
Ditto to that.
I think her unwavering support got her over the line for the top job just ahead of the other back slapping candidate OW

dr dre

8th Sep 2023, 07:10

Really? How so? Do you think Mainline is getting 75 321’s? To ‘replace’ 75 737’s while expanding the markets immensely with 29+ 220’s, expanded 320’s NA RPT flying and Alliances E190’s. Or is it a vastly reduced Mainline Domestic plan?

Mainline are planning for at least another 400 more pilots for growth beyond Sunrise and planned retirements. So they aren’t planning on stopping at only 20 321s and then outsourcing the rest of the work to subsidiaries if they are working on those numbers. The plan seems to be a rough 1 for 1 replacement 737/321.

Poto

8th Sep 2023, 10:17

Mainline are planning for at least another 400 more pilots for growth beyond Sunrise and planned retirements. So they aren’t planning on stopping at only 20 321s and then outsourcing the rest of the work to subsidiaries if they are working on those numbers. The plan seems to be a rough 1 for 1 replacement 737/321.
I agree Mainline will probably get more than 20. I highly doubt it’s even close to 75. Will be happy to be proved wrong but this mob often prove me right unfortunately. Original 787 order consisted of ‘up to 115’

dr dre

8th Sep 2023, 15:25

I agree Mainline will probably get more than 20. I highly doubt it’s even close to 75. Will be happy to be proved wrong but this mob often prove me right unfortunately. Original 787 order consisted of ‘up to 115’

As far as I know there was never a plan back then to recruit pilots to crew an additional 115 aircraft.

Now they are talking about an additional minimum 400 pilots over the what’s needed to crew the existing fleet, plus Sunrise and projected retirements. That’s the equivalent of an extra 40 short haul or 12 ultra long haul aircraft. So whatever the plan is I can hardly see them downsizing any part of the mainline operation.

dragon man

8th Sep 2023, 20:02

CAN WE STILL LOVE A WOKE, INSIDERS’ QANTAS?
Greg SheridanOnce, the nation loved Qantas with abandon. The little Aussie battler that started off in Cloncurry 100 years ago and grew up to be a national champion, the spirit of Australia, the flying kangaroo. Once, every Australian hoped that if they flew, it would be Qantas.

Now, as its long-time impresario, public face and emperor Alan Joyce quickly scuttles off into the sunset, Qantas is the nation’s most complained about company. Its service is mediocre, it’s wildly expensive and involved in a bewildering conflagration of controversies.

The decline of the Qantas good name encompasses several fairly tragic tales of modern Australia, a land of ineffective governance, modest and patchy performance, unjustified complacency, debilitating cultural confusion, and a growing divide between insiders and outsiders, between the Chairman’s Lounge and cattle class.

It’s hard to know who has handled controversy worse, Qantas or the Albanese government.

In July, Transport Minister Catherine King refused a request from Qatar Airways for 21 more flights a week to Australia’s main airports. That’s a million extra seats coming to Australia every year. The benefits in tourism alone would be hundreds of millions of dollars, plus the extra freight capacity and greater choice for Australian flyers.

Plus inevitably lower airfares. Jayne Hrdlicka, Virgin Australia chief executive, claims it could have lowered airfares by 40 per cent. King labels such estimates ridiculous.

The big beneficiary of the Qatar Airways decision is Qantas – no extra competition from a superior airline, no need to reduce punitive airfares.

Simultaneously, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has taken action against Qantas in the Federal Court. The ACCC says Qantas sold tickets for more than 8000 flights it had already cancelled. It wants a penalty in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Qantas also had to backflip on its policy to extinguish by December 31 more than $500m worth of flight credits from the Covid period still held with Qantas and Jetstar by travellers in Australia and overseas. Qantas had made it quite hard to redeem credits. Not only were there, until very recently, the familiar epic telephone wait times but customers can’t use a credit even for a spouse or child.

Other airlines accuse Qantas of “slot hoarding”. Sydney airport has a limited number of landing slots. Qantas holds a huge number. Even now Qantas is not flying at its pre-Covid capacity but retains many slots it never uses. This prevents competition.

The Qatar Airways controversy has a way to run. Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie has succeeded in setting up a Senate select committee to investigate the decision.

In parliament this week the Albanese government looked all over the shop like a bad baby’s breakfast. It couldn’t answer simple questions, couldn’t sustain a coherent explanation for the decision. It looked rattled.

It’s worth taking a step or two back from the immediate controversy to consider what it reveals about our society and economy. Our economy is a mess. Our productivity is declining. Throughout the past year the amount of economic activity we produce per hour fell by 3.6 per cent. We are in a per capita recession. The economy is notionally growing because of high immigration, but per capita income has declined two quarters in a row. The government is busily re-regulating industrial relations so that flexibility and productivity will decline further.

But our powers of self-delusion remain formidable. Anthony Albanese said Australia had the world’s most competitive aviation market. That’s just wrong. In our domestic aviation market, more than 95 per cent of flights are undertaken by two airlines, Qantas and Virgin.

Tony Webber, former chief economist for Qantas, now chief executive of Airline Intelligence and Research, has conducted exhaustive analysis of Australia’s international aviation market and finds there are only eight routes Australia flies that are more competitive than our domestic market, with 20 routes even less competitive than our domestic market. Webber concludes we are “a far cry from the most competitive (aviation market) in the world”.

Meanwhile, Qantas, rightly in my view, cannot be sold to majority foreign ownership. Whatever that adds up to, it’s not a free market. I’m no apostle of free market absolutism. I think it’s good that we have a majority Australian-owned airline. Geoffrey Blainey, our most distinguished historian, tells Inquirer: “BHP and Qantas were both seen as nation-building organisations and enjoyed enormous support.”

But Qantas’s size and influence no longer are seen as particularly good for many Australians. There is the poor quality of service, the endless cancellations and delays, and the arrogant, prissy bossiness of Qantas, which tells its passengers what to think about every issue from gay marriage, to Israel Folau, to the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament.

Yet the Qantas bottom line looks great; a full year profit of $2.47bn just about matches the $2.7bn it got from the government during Covid.

Qantas is emblematic of the Australian economy. We are assuredly not a socialist economy, but neither are we a free market economy. We are really a fat and lazy oligopolist economy whose luck may be running out. We’re a cosy corporate state kind of dozy economy.

Of our 11 biggest companies, only two were founded in the past 100 years, Fortescue and Macquarie Bank. The rate of new business formation is very low. A few years ago a landmark Harvard Kennedy School of Government study found that while Australia was the eighth richest country, for economic complexity we ranked a pitiful 93rd. We are wealthy because we sell huge amounts of minerals. The rest is noise around our lavish, quarrelsome efforts to redistribute this wealth.

Qantas tells our story. Founded in 1920, it was a magnificent pioneer. It ran the first Flying Doctor Service, another icon. After World War II it was taken into government ownership and became part of our magnificent decade, the swirling 1950s, when Australia believed in itself as never before. It was privatised, part of the Hawke-Keating reforms, in the early ’90s.

So many of Australia’s biggest companies – Commonwealth Bank, Telstra, CSL, Qantas – are former government corporations.

Qantas now inhabits a kind of grey zone. It is no longer government owned so it isn’t held directly accountable through the political system, parliamentary questions to the shareholding ministers and the like. At the same time, it’s not disciplined or held accountable by full-blooded competition. It is, par excellence, a central part of the cosy oligopoly of our political economy. Qantas is notionally regulated by the government. But as many key figures put to me this week, Qantas in effect has captured the regulator. Former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello hails Qantas as the most effective lobbyist in Australia.

The Australian Financial Review has run a campaign concerning Qantas giving a membership of its exclusive Chairman’s Lounge to the Prime Minister’s son, Nathan. I have asked many Chairman’s Lounge members, including former prime ministers, whether their membership ever extended to any of their adult children. No one had heard of such a thing. It goes without saying that there is not a speck of discredit attaching to Albanese’s son. But this is really not a good look, not at all.

Zoom the lens out a bit more. Travelling through the Qantas terminal at Melbourne for a domestic flight is an exercise in class distinctions. Cattle class buy their coffees, for as much as $7 a cup, in the crowded public facilities. The public toilets are often pretty crook too.

One level higher up is the Qantas Club, basically for frequent flyers above a certain points threshold. You get barista coffee for free. The club is often crowded but pleasant. A narrow range of snacks is available, a few desks where you can plug in your laptop, one or two TVs on news stations, though the volume is too low to hear. There’s no outside window but a narrow section with an interior view of the check-in hall.

One step better is the business class lounge. Here are floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking blue skies and the endlessly absorbing rituals of tarmac management, with planes coming and going. A much wider range of food and drinks are on offer, more folks making the coffee, shorter queues.

Beyond this is the highest level, the Chairman’s Lounge. Here is an Elysian oasis, a balm for the spirit. It’s hushed and spacious; discreet staff take your order for poached eggs or smoked salmon, the finest wines are brought to your lounge, attentive staff fix boarding passes and flight arrangements. Here the great and the good, and all federal politicians, mingle.

It’s a remarkably stratified, graded, social class experience for such a notionally egalitarian nation. I’ve been to most of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounges in Australia, only as someone’s guest of course. Most airlines around the world have privilege lounges. Qantas gives a lounge membership to every federal politician (yes, the Greens revolutionaries lap up the bosses’ cham*pagne), many senior public servants and titans of industry. It’s sublimely effective corporate lobbying.

The whole nation in a way is in on the Qantas fix. Because foreign airlines are so restricted in Australia, and in our domestic market, Qantas is more or less a monopoly, and it makes sense for everybody to invest effort into their Qantas frequent flyer membership.

All this cosiness, however, leads to seriously sub-optimal outcomes. Webber points out to Inquirer that Qantas is still operating below the capacity it had before Covid, while many foreign airlines have been kept out or kept below the level they want to operate at.

He says: “Qantas keeps capacity at pre-Covid levels, drip-feeds extra capacity into the system very slowly and generates huge profits by charging very high fares.” With capacity way below demand, oligopoly delivers monopoly profits.

Here’s where absolutely everything about the Qatar Airways decision looks terrible.

It would be wrong to demonise Joyce. In his early years as chief executive he perhaps saved the airline. As a former government corporation, Qantas received huge advantages on its privatisation, not least that its debt was forgiven. And it has enjoyed huge regulatory advantages ever since. But it also had legacy issues, especially entanglement with the old industrial relations system, with all its inefficiency and enterprise-killing irrationality.

The Albanese government is busy restoring the worst features of the old IR system, which will be another drag on the economy. Joyce had the courage to break the union stranglehold on Qantas. It was a tough battle. He pioneered the immensely successful partnership with Emirates. And his plans to fly direct, non-stop flights from east coast Australia to London and New York are visionary. But he stayed too long, became too arrogant and way, way, way too political. Recently Joyce committed Qantas to supporting the Yes campaign in the voice referendum. This is a partisan issue, the government on one side, the opposition on the other. Half the nation is against the idea. But Joyce paints Qantas planes with a Yes sign and offers to fly Yes campaigners around Australia for free, not doing the same for No campaigners. It’s unaccountable political power. It’s undemocratic.

And how does this all look? Qantas does personal favours for the Prime Minister’s family, then publicly commits in a big way to the government’s most controversial political campaign, and then – “Deidre Chambers what a coincidence!” – the government takes an irrational regulatory decision that keeps out a Qantas competitor and contributes directly to the Qantas bottom line.

No doubt everyone’s motives are pure, but it’s a horrible look. Dutton and McKenzie flatly accuse the government of “running a protection racket for Qantas”.

Joyce’s arrogant political campaigning is inherently undemocratic. The No campaigners, however, believe popular resentment at Qantas’s constant political hectoring is one of their greatest assets, as people react against Qantas bossiness. Not only does Qantas instruct the public what to think on same sex marriage, Israel Folau and the voice referendum but on every Qantas flight there is a welcome to country and/or an acknowledgment of Aboriginal elders. In a secular and egalitarian democracy like ours, this is both absurd and potentially dangerous. At the height of Australia’s adherence to formal Christianity, it was only spasmodically that at a normal public function someone was called on to say grace. Australians were generally allowed whatever private thoughts they liked.

But now the worship of woke identity politics is so severe that we must genuflect in pious prayer to it several times a day. Resentment at these absurd rituals is not resentment at Aboriginal Australians. But Qantas will generate such resentment in time.

Part of today’s corporate political activism is to earn goodwill from governments, but it also springs from the ESG movement, for companies to act and invest in approved environmental, social and governance ways. This means global warming schtick and left of centre identity politics.

John O’Sullivan, in the September issue of Quadrant, argues Western nations are developing into “managerial party-states, softer than China but rooted in the same social-credit system of control”. He quotes NS Lyons: “There can be no neutral institutions in a party-state. The party-state’s enemies are the institution’s enemies, or the institution is an enemy of the party-state (which is not a profitable position to be in).”

People are annoyed with Qantas mainly because of punitive airfares, endless delays and cancellations, low standards of service generally, the often shabby state of the planes (certainly compared with Asian or Middle Eastern airlines), and until recently the water torture insanity of trying to get through to it on the phone. Oh, and the fairly obscene size of Joyce’s remuneration and bonuses. But Qantas’s politics play a part too. Many people disagree with Qantas over the political issues it spruiks, using shareholders funds and inflicting propaganda on innocent travellers.

If you’re annoyed about that sort of thing, when Qantas is criticised your reaction is not so much protective of an Australian icon – who shot Bambi? – but, rather, I’m glad somebody cut those bullies down to size.

Qantas has become dangerous for the Albanese government. It cannot any longer deploy its goodwill to assist the government on political issues. Instead it generates resentment as part of the elite celebrity culture that is so spectacularly out of touch with normal reality.

The government in parliament this week seemed to be reciting the most ludicrous of Qantas’s talking points. Early on one minister said the Qatar Airways decision was to help Qantas, another that it was to secure Australian jobs, then that it would distort the market if Qatar had too many flights. Then according to King there were vague and slightly sinister “national interest” reasons. Then King said it was partly because some Australian passengers had been subject to grossly improper invasive searches at Hamad airport in 2020, though this had certainly not been Qatar Airways’ doing. Foreign Minister Penny Wong even rang the Qatari Prime Minister this week to speak about the incident. She’d never done so before. It looked like a grubbily transparent effort to throw up a smokescreen of distraction around a plainly absurd decision on Qatar Airways.

The Prime Minister and other ministers repeatedly said Qatar Airways was welcome to increase its capacity at Adelaide, Cairns, the Gold Coast, Canberra. None of these makes sense for Qatar Airways. But if there’s some moral offence quotient in stopping it from competing against Qantas in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, surely the same moral reasons apply in Adelaide, Canberra etc.

Sky News journalist Andrew Clennell made surely the shrewdest remark: “Sometimes in these cases it’s actually best just to tell the truth.”

Oligopoly economies have their appeal. They tend to be stable. All the big players have their assured place, everyone tries for a cut, or a crumb, of the pie. But they are also complacent, stagnant systems. The bar to entry is too high. The demand for goodies is insatiable. The growth potential is slow. Ultim*ately they can’t pay the bills, ultimately they explode in frustration

We live in a time of economic stagnation and cultural dislocation, a time of so many fallen Australian icons – Holden out of business, AMP charging dead people premiums, the Commonwealth Bank’s scandals, the Wallabies forgetting how to play rugby, Captain Cook, Rolf Harris. The success of the Matildas in the women’s World Cup briefly gave us back one icon; for a short moment we were allowed to sing and celebrate Waltzing Matilda again. Once our national song, it has been latterly banished by woke.

Is Qantas a fallen icon now? The Qantas bottom line is in rude good health. But do we still love it?

spinex

8th Sep 2023, 22:54

dr dre

8th Sep 2023, 23:00

Lots of truth telling in the above quote, but still rather amusing to see how brave our media have become, now that Qantas or rather Qantas senior management, have become socially acceptable punch bags. For rather a long time the Fin Review and their columnist; Loose-Canon, were stand out exceptions to the fawning drivel published by most and paid the price in being removed from circulation along with other spiteful, petty and not so petty retaliatory measures. Of course a certain sector of the populace huffed something about "Murdoch media" and automatically dismissed what was said, but there is a certain satisfaction in seeing the old adage, "...., but you can't fool all the people, all the time" being proven once again.

The AFR is 9 Publishing/formerly Fairfax, the same as the SMH and Age, not Murdoch.

And yes Sheridan/Murdoch media can be dismissed fairly easily, they have their own agenda which mostly includes bashing Labor. Didn’t see them lay the boot in when Morrison was posing in a flight deck with a pilot’s cap on. Remember back to 2011 when Joe Hildebrand in Murdoch’s Daily Telegraph wrote a series of pilot bashing articles when the IR disputes were happening? ““Pilots paid higher than PM”, “Pilots want spas and facials”, “Pilots demand $200k pay rise?”

People have short memories.

Poto

8th Sep 2023, 23:54

As far as I know there was never a plan back then to recruit pilots to crew an additional 115 aircraft.

“This is a very, very big commitment by Qantas to growth,” Qantas Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Geoff Dixon told reporters.
This quote referred to the 65 FIRM orders in 2005! The CP was spruiking similar growth at the same time
We all know how that ended. This mob talk a big game and we should remain hopeful things might change however I won’t be holding my breath. Ask for the Winton fleet numbers in 2032? You won’t get an answer yet we have the Sunrise and Fysh plans?

dr dre

9th Sep 2023, 00:50

“This is a very, very big commitment by Qantas to growth,” Qantas Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Geoff Dixon told reporters.
This quote referred to the 65 FIRM orders in 2005! The CP was spruiking similar growth at the same time
We all know how that ended. This mob talk a big game and we should remain hopeful things might change however I won’t be holding my breath. Ask for the Winton fleet numbers in 2032? You won’t get an answer yet we have the Sunrise and Fysh plans?

Of course plans could change, could go in the opposite direction too with additional orders and recruitment. The often quoted 1500 extra pilots number is based off some probable things the company is fairly confident will happen, including forecast retirements, the Sunrise project and some additional flying on existing fleets. Yes, you can be doubtful about this going off past history. But those numbers do indicate that, for now, there’s no behind the scenes plan to outsource a large proportion of SH flying permanently out of mainline.

I think the delay in extra 321 orders had to do with the delay in final approval for the XLR model, but I’m told narrowbodies don’t have as long a lead in time for delivery compared to widebodies so the priority was to lock in the 350/787 orders first.

Poto

9th Sep 2023, 01:38

Let’s hope so. I’ve been around far too long to put faith in 10year fleet plans. Looking at the market QF want to serve a 50/50 mox of 220’s & 321’s makes more sense than a 30/70 mix.

neville_nobody

9th Sep 2023, 01:48

But those numbers do indicate that, for now, there’s no behind the scenes plan to outsource a large proportion of SH flying permanently out of mainline.

Well not one they can afford to implement for now. I would suggest executives are coming to the realisation that finding staff outside of mainline to work for peanuts is becoming difficult.

dragon man

9th Sep 2023, 01:50

It just gets better and better.
The Qantas Code of Conduct and Ethics … yes it’s realby Michael Sainsbury (https://michaelwest.com.au/author/michaelsainsbury/) | Sep 9, 2023 | Business (https://michaelwest.com.au/category/business/), Latest Posts (https://michaelwest.com.au/category/latest-posts/)

https://michaelwest.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/alan.joyce_.resigns.jpeg (https://michaelwest.com.au/the-qantas-code-of-conduct-and-ethics-yes-its-real/alan-joyce-resigns/)Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce. Photo: AAP (https://michaelwest.com.au/the-qantas-code-of-conduct-and-ethics-yes-its-real/alan-joyce-resigns/)

The Qantas Code of Conduct and Ethics is perhaps the most ignored and hypocritical document in corporate Australia. Michael Sainsbury checks out the myriad breaches.

There is, perhaps, no more damning indictment of corporate hypocrisy than the behaviour of Qantas, its senior management and board when compared to their own lofty internal Code of Conduct and Ethics (https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/qantas/pdfs/about-us/corporate-governance/qantas-code-of-conduct.pdf).

The 13-page document is peppered with the words: ethics, respect, judgment, trust, dignity, fairness and equity all of which have been in as short supply as on-time flights.

There are clear breaches of the Code of Conduct by the national carrier and also by its board of directors, who are responsible for the company, and its former ‘star’ chief executive Alan Joyce; breaches on every single page. We will parse these shortly.

Although Qantas is by no means the only blue chip Australian company to breach regularly its own stated ethics code, it stands out as a symbol of corporate malfeasance as it is Australia’s best known brand world-wide, our biggest recipient of government subsidies in history, and the number one example of the rabid pursuit of profits corroding customer staff and customer confidence.
ACCC stingWith the ACCC dragging Qantas into court for the immense deception which was selling tickets to 8,000 cancelled flights, there are calls to strip Joyce and others of their bonuses. The myriad breaches of the Qantas Code will no doubt fortify the board and major shareholders in dealing with this issue and restoring confidence in the airline and its management.

The Qantas Code of Conduct is a document buried in deep in the bowels of the company’s website and that appears on page a of last year’s annual report. You have to know where to look.
Business Principles: ‘non-negotiable’ or non-existent?Even the quickest glance at the document, page 1, sets the alarm bells ringing:

“The Qantas Group’s Non-Negotiable Business Principles are: a) we are committed to safety as our first priority; b) we comply with laws and regulations; c) we treat people with respect; d) we act with honesty and integrity, upholding ethical standards; e) we are committed to true and fair financial reporting; f) we are committed to environmental sustainability; g) we have a responsibility to safeguard the Qantas Group’s reputation, brands, property, assets and information; and h) we proactively manage risk.”

Employees and customers have not been treated with respect, safety has been compromised by cost-cutting, the company is in myriad alleged breaches of competition laws, ‘honesty and integrity’ does not involve the chief executive selling his personal shares into a share buy-back, environmentally (although perhaps unavoidably) this is one of Australia’s biggest polluters and is big into greenwashing, the brand and reputation have been trashed. This risk has not been ‘proactively managed’.
Influence peddlingThen from 3.16. Requirements come this:

The Qantas Group requires a high degree of caution in relation to the giving and receiving of gifts, benefits (including expenses and entertainment) and hospitality (GBH) to or from Public Officials. On that basis, Personnel must: (a) never offer, give or receive Anything of Value, including cash or cash equivalent (including a daily allowance or per diem), (d) regardless of value, is not given or received at a frequency which could reasonably be seen as being intended to improperly influence any person or reward an action

Qantas is one of the biggest influence peddlers in Australia. With zero transparency, the company (at the CEO’s pleasure) invites sitting politicians, heads of government agencies, corporate chieftains and High Court judges to its Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

In itself, this is an egregious breach of the Code. Members receive flight upgrades, high quality food and liquor and valet service – such as a direct phone contact to change flight details – not available to other passengers. Once, no longer in a position of influence their memberships are often revoked.

3.2 Compliance with the law means observing the letter and spirit of the law as well as managing the business of the Qantas Group so that the Group and its Personnel are recognised as “good corporate citizens” at all times in the way they conduct business and in connection with their employment.

Qantas has been found twice by the Federal Court to have illegally sacked 1,700 workers. The case is now on appeal at the High Court. That, along with the ACCC case against Qantas for illegally flogging tickets to ‘Ghost Flights’ would appear to make a mockery of the ‘letter of the law’ while the ‘spirit of the law’ has been smashed umpteen times, for instance in the corporate strategy to set up dozens of subsidiaries to skirt around paying union awards for employees. We could go on with spirit. Tax springs to mind.

3.3 The Qantas Group supports a “zero tolerance” approach to crime and corruption in relation to the Group’s operations.

Again, there appears to be quite a bit of tolerance towards corruption, or at least the perception of corruption. Alan Joyce, if he knew about the ACCC sting, which he should have and very likely did earlier this year, should not have sold $17m worth of shares into the Qantas share buy-back at far higher prices than today.

Insider Trading: Legal prohibition applicable to all Personnel

3.55 The principal insider trading prohibition in Australian law is contained in section 1043A of the Corporations Act.

3.56 Personnel must not Deal in Qantas Securities while in possession of Material Non-Public Information.

The board of directors too should never have allowed him to do this on the basis that a lawsuit for deliberately misleading and deceptive conduct over the 8,000 phantom flights was ‘material information’ which should have been disclosed to the ASX under the ‘continuous disclosure’ regime to allow fair trading for investors. It was not disclosed until two week ago. Joyce sold in June.

Disclosure is both an ethical and a legal requirement.

Inclusion and diversity 3.81 The Qantas Group is committed to building and fostering a culture in which inclusion and diversity is valued and championed, and to providing a workplace that is safe, inclusive, respectful and where all our people feel they belong. This means that Personnel must: (a) be proactive and take responsibility for their part in fostering and maintaining an inclusive culture; (b) treat Personnel, Qantas Group customers and suppliers, and other people with trust, dignity, respect, fairness and equity and not engage in bullying, harassment, discrimination or victimisation; (c) be beyond reproach in matters of trust, honesty and confidentiality and never misuse any privilege, authority or status; and (d) co-operate with other Personnel for the benefit of customers.

Such has been the decline in corporate culture during the past 15 years, and the bitterness between staff and management, due to extreme cost cutting and outsourcing that it has affected operations quite severely. This is evident in the views of thousands of Australian customers on social media complaining about services. Due to executive and board avarice, neither customers or employees have been treated with dignity, respect or fairness.

This might have been vaguely understandable if Qantas was an entity fighting for survival in a free market but this company received $2.7 billion in government subsidies such as JobKeeper. It is a monopolist propped up by public money.

One stand-out case of employee satisfaction is the video which emerged online of Qantas baggage handlers literally chucking peoples luggage around. The morale has been low for years, from pilots and crew to engineers, baggage handlers and other employees.
Then there’s the Suppliers CodeIt’s not just customers and staff who have been victims of Qantas professed very high ethical standards, it’s suppliers as well.

In the Qantas Group Suppliers Code of Conduct (https://www.qantas.com/content/dam/qantas/pdfs/about-us/departments/procurement/supplier-code-of-conduct.pdf) one section particularly caught our eye.

LABOUR AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The Qantas Group is committed to the respect of Human Rights as set out in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights). We expect all our suppliers to adhere to the same human rights standards as we do, and to treat others with trust, dignity, respect, fairness and equity. Our objective is to ensure the working conditions of workers in our supply chain meet applicable legislation and relevant labour standards, including those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Labour Organisation Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

Yet Qantas has outsourced work, that is part of its supply chain to countries in the Middle East where homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable by death, where women are treated as second class citizens and the ill-treated treatment of immigrant workers is extremely well documented.

The hypocrisy, from a company that pretends to champion LGBTQI rights, for instance, is breathtaking.
Breaches are for workers, not bosses5.1 Any breach of applicable laws, prevailing business ethics or other aspects of the Code will result in disciplinary action. Depending on the severity of the breach, such disciplinary action may include reprimand, formal warning, demotion or termination of employment.

5.2 Similar disciplinary action will be taken against any supervisor or Manager who directly approves and/or condones such breach or has knowledge of the breach and does not immediately take appropriate remedial action.

5.3 Breach of applicable laws or regulations may also result in prosecution by appropriate authorities. The Qantas Group will not pay: (a) directly or indirectly, any penalties imposed on Personnel as a result of a breach of law or regulation; or (b) the legal costs of Personnel convicted of breaching such law or regulation. 5.4 All material breaches will be reported to the Board.

Assorted business lobby groups have kept mum on the Qantas debacle because they, like the Qantas board, are part of the same club: the big corporate directors’ club; and literally, as member of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge.

Their view no doubt will be that the early resignation of Alan Joyce is a scalp which salves and solves the problem. Yet the decline of Qantas is no run of the mill corporate scandal, it represents everything which is wrong with business in Australia: the failure (ACCC excepted now, belatedly) of the political classes and governance bodies to keep corporations in check, and the pursuit of profit and personal gain to the point of management incompetence.

It represents extreme corporate welfare and the fall in public confidence not just in government but in all large institutions. That is why the Qantas scandal is such a big story.

As for culpability, the point of company directors is to take ultimate responsibility for the company. Clearly they have failed ethically yet this is a legal duty too. For the board to continue in this climate, weathering the storm of scandals – presiding over what was once a national treasure of which Australians could be proud – is not on.

If the buck really stops with the board, as the directors’ lobby claims it does, they should fall on their swords, for it is they who are responsible for treating customers, staff and the Australian public with such disrespect.

Then the task of rebuilding can begin.

dr dre

9th Sep 2023, 02:11

Let’s hope so. I’ve been around far too long to put faith in 10year fleet plans. Looking at the market QF want to serve a 50/50 mox of 220’s & 321’s makes more sense than a 30/70 mix.

The replacement project is a 10 year plan. In 10 years Australia’s population is projected to be about 15% higher. Co-incidentally that’s the pax capacity increase from the 738. In terms of available airports and terminal space the only planned new space is WSI (which is too far out of Sydney to take real loads off SYD) and maybe new terminals in BNE and PER that haven’t been approved. Terminal space is at a premium today. They need the biggest narrowbodies they can park on those gates, and they’d need 50% more A220s than the equivalent 321s.

Even if your prediction of 50/50 was true they have a total of 134 narrowbody aircraft they’re planning on getting, so that’s still 67 A321s. The 134 number was based on projected passenger numbers in 10 years.

Poto

9th Sep 2023, 02:59

That assumes all that capacity growth is Red Not Orange. I’ve heard all this before. Jet star will only ever get 5 jets! You’ll all get a seat change within 5yrs! We are only using this little business for Charter flying, This Wet lease will result in more jobs! Just to name a few of Dozens! It’s like the Battered House wife…. he’ll change now, I’m sure of it!

dr dre

9th Sep 2023, 04:31

That assumes all that capacity growth is Red Not Orange.

I think they’ve realised the LCC market has limits. JQ has its own aircraft orders that are separate to the 134 A220/321 orders.

The new CEO, unlike the previous one, has never worked for JQ and has no emotional attachment to it

Poto

9th Sep 2023, 04:59

LCC has reached its limits? 134? Where is all this published? Seriously Lay off the Koolaid

dr dre

9th Sep 2023, 05:13

134? Where is all this published?

In-principle agreement for up to 134 orders and purchase right options

QANTAS SELECTS AIRBUS AS PREFERRED AIRCRAFT FOR DOMESTIC FLEET RENEWAL (https://www.qantasnewsroom.com.au/media-releases/qantas-selects-airbus-as-preferred-aircraft-for-domestic-fleet-renewal/)

LCC has reached its limits?

That’s more a hunch - you don’t hear as much about the “amazing JQ” these days. And the change in management will probably (to me) signal a shift away from JQ. Originally, 15 years ago, the plan may have been to replace most of domestic with JQ. But I think now they’ve finally realised it’s time to invest into and renew mainline. Delayed decision but the correct one.

Poto

9th Sep 2023, 05:17

Fair enough. At least they never Over promise and under deliver. 115 vs 25??
I am in awe of your optimism though

spinex

9th Sep 2023, 05:34

The AFR is 9 Publishing/formerly Fairfax, the same as the SMH and Age, not Murdoch.

And yes Sheridan/Murdoch media can be dismissed fairly easily, they have their own agenda which mostly includes bashing Labor. Didn’t see them lay the boot in when Morrison was posing in a flight deck with a pilot’s cap on. Remember back to 2011 when Joe Hildebrand in Murdoch’s Daily Telegraph wrote a series of pilot bashing articles when the IR disputes were happening? ““Pilots paid higher than PM”, “Pilots want spas and facials”, “Pilots demand $200k pay rise?”

People have short memories.

Thanks for proving my point rather neatly.

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

10th Sep 2023, 01:06

invest into and renew mainline
By substituting A220s and E190s operated by subsidiaries and contractors? It's only the public that's being fooled into thinking QF is upgrading.

scrotometer

10th Sep 2023, 01:24

So what happens now to all the execs 1 or 2 levels below AJ that sat there and let him do all this stuff? Do they get off scot free or will there be some bloodletting? Surely some of them are complicit in all of this?
What about AJ's ridiculous divide-and-conquer policy of having so may AOCs in the Rat group? Surely this could be trimmed back and save millions in running costs? The whole place needs to be wound right back to an efficient size rather than promoting infighting for seats at the table?
In all honesty does Rat group need JQ any more? Doest it need a separate NJS or NWA? Does it need separate freighters?
A complete waste of money I think. Start here to cut costs otherwise growth will be killed by infighting.

Global Aviator

10th Sep 2023, 01:41

dragon man

10th Sep 2023, 10:06

Any body want to make a submission to the Senate enquiry here is the email address. [email protected]

I have and would urge all and sundry to do also.

dragon man

10th Sep 2023, 10:15

FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS FOR POOR MR GOYDER
Rear WindowRichard Goyder weighs Qantas positives, Joyce’s payoutMark Di Stefano (https://archive.md/o/4N1Sf/https://www.afr.com/by/mark-di-stefano-p536dp)ReporterSep 10, 2023 – 5.37pm
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It turns out Richard Goyder, the suit in the arena, likes to make lists.
The embattled Qantas chairman told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age he was sitting in his Perth home the other week, jotting down the “pros and cons” facing the airline on two sheets of paper. https://archive.md/4N1Sf/eb4f9d3364c3e7d8cbf7a440c92fadcf77ee1fd8.webp Qantas, Woodside and AFL chairman Richard Goyder. Rhett Wymann “I was trying not to kid myself,” Goyder blathered. “I was stepping back, trying to be at 35,000 feet, and think, ‘Right, how do we best deal with this?’”
It must be nice having such effortless powers of self-actualisation. I’m chill, man. I’m at 35,000 feet. I’m not kidding myself. I’m doing a SWOT chart.
But seriously: is Richard Goyder actually for real? It took 18 months into a slow-motion car crash, with the airline facing its biggest crisis in years, with its brand in the toilet, with a CEO running for the exit, with Gina Cass-Gottlieb banging on the door, for Goyds to finally reach out for the Montblanc.
To be fair, it must be hard to keep up-to-date To Do lists in the Wide World of Richard Goyder, when so many other pressing things are vying for attention. Setting aside the fiduciary duties at Woodside, or the nests of vipers at AFL House, Goyds also had to keep a reminder for Janine (https://archive.md/o/4N1Sf/https://www.afr.com/rear-window/richard-goyder-s-10m-luxury-melbourne-roots-20230906-p5e2hk) to purchase the $10.43 million polished concrete cabana in South Yarra.
Or, in the same month of his real estate purchase, Goyds was researching deluxe Airnbs for a European trip. As we revealed in June (https://archive.md/o/4N1Sf/https://www.afr.com/rear-window/the-incognito-elite-at-the-wedding-of-the-year-20230618-p5dhg5), the Goyders were among the guests at the wedding of celebrity chef Guillaume Brahimi and “chicken heiress” Tamie Ingham at the Musee Rodin in Paris.
While the ACCC was investigating Qantas for allegedly defrauding customers by selling airfares on flights that had already been cancelled, Goyds was tux’d up by the Seine. He was sipping Dom, snacking on galette with Lachlan Murdoch, Karl Stefanovic and his BFF Gil McLachlan.
It turns out, Goyds, Gil and the wives also scooted through Israel on a stopover organised by Seek co-founder and fellow AFL commissioner Paul Bassat. What a time to be Richard Goyder!Remuneration packageAt least a wave of realisation has swept over the WA sheikh, and he now claims to be ready to start attacking Qantas’ befoulment. Welcome Richard! Grab the pen.
In need of attention is the goodbye parcel of cash and shares (https://archive.md/o/4N1Sf/https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/alan-joyce-s-exit-is-not-enough-major-shareholders-warn-qantas-board-20230907-p5e2rh) destined to land in Alan Joyce’s retirement account. Few remuneration packages have been so eagerly anticipated.
Joyce is in line to receive a short-term cash bonus of $4.3 million to June 30 of this year. The former chief executive is also owed more than 3.1 million Qantas shares as part of the company’s long-term incentive program: deferred bonuses and rewards the ex-CEO has previously accumulated. Tally that all up at Friday’s closing price of $5.54, and Joyce stands to walk away with more than $21 million.
Last week, Goyder raised the prospect of “clawbacks”, pointing to the provisions set out in the annual report. These options are now the purview of the remuneration committee, whose membership includes Jacqueline Hey, Maxine Brenner, Michael L’Estrange, Doug Parkerand Todd Sampson.
So, are they really going to release millions of dollars of cash and shares to Joyce even as they grapple with a trashed brand and blockbuster ACCC lawsuit? Doing so would be flipping off both Qantas shareholders and the Australian public.
But here the company has form. The last time Qantas farewelled a CEO, the board rinsed shareholders in broad daylight, even as the global economy tanked.
This was in 2008, when retiring CEO Geoff Dixon exited the company with an $11 million package. Buried in the report was a gift to Dixon linked to a move by then-treasurer Peter Costello to close the loophole on how much super could be squirrelled away tax-free.
The effect of this was that by the time he retired, Dixon could only put $1 million tax-free into super. Qantas believed he was “significantly disadvantaged” by the changes, and gave him $3 million just to make up for it.
Dixon’s super imbroglio was signed off by then-chairman Leigh Clifford and the rem committee’s James Strong, the airline’s one-time CEO. Also on the board? Alan Joyce, of course.
Qantas’ deadline to release its annual report is Friday, October 6, which is precisely four weeks before the company’s AGM, slated for November 3.
This is a week after that other big event in Goyds’ calendar, being the AFL grand final. Now, what are the odds Qantas hits publish just before the opening bounce?

dragon man

10th Sep 2023, 20:49

High court decision on the baggage handlers is coming out on Wednesday. A loss to Qantas would truly be the icing on the cake to Joyce’s tenure. Here’s hoping.

Torres

11th Sep 2023, 01:40

Interestingly, QANTAS Statutory After Net Tax Profit during the Joyce Years (2008 to date) indicate a net Loss of Aus$ 3.919 Billion, not all of which can be blamed on Covid, whilst Covid financial incentives to retain staff significantly benefited Qantas and reduced it's net loss over the same period.

In the same period QANTAS paid no Company Tax but received over $2 billion in tax payer funded Corporate welfare, including $900 million in JobKeeper payments, received during the pandemic.

One wonders why the CEO and senior executives enjoyed such generous and lucrative Bonuses and benefits - or any profit related incentive payments - funded by long suffering passengers, share holders and Australian tax payers?? :confused:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/1445x203/qantas_profit_3b3a011086a102032ca6133717e9f6acfea60bd5.jpg

dragon man

11th Sep 2023, 02:57

The drums are beating louder and louder.
Qantas chair Goyder must clear out the board after Joyce woeshttps://archive.md/dksuZ/1603ab695714d85dc0f8eda91f56eb7639cac748.webp
Qatar Airways given conditions to be met if extra flights were to be granteddata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7

By ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN (https://archive.md/o/dksuZ/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/author/robert-gottliebsen)
10:27AM SEPTEMBER 11, 2023

Qantas is looming as arguably the biggest corporate governance failure in Australia’s history, outside companies that run into serious financial difficulties as a result of their failures.
Potentially, the Qantas governance morass (https://archive.md/o/dksuZ/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/qantas-pwc-and-optus-the-higher-they-fly-the-harder-they-fall/news-story/6a48ec1260aeb05e148b80b3add97ac9) could trigger endless class actions and/or corporate investigations, which will tie the company up for many years.
What makes this so serious for Australia is the fact that, although it is a listed company, Qantas dominates our air transport in business, freight, tourism, and in time of war, defence. The nation can’t afford such a vital company to be crippled by governance issues. Worse still, the governance issues involve the chairman and board members as much as they involve the former CEO, Alan Joyce (https://archive.md/o/dksuZ/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/qantas-pwc-and-optus-the-higher-they-fly-the-harder-they-fall/news-story/6a48ec1260aeb05e148b80b3add97ac9).
Accordingly, I urge chairman Richard Goyder to act in the national interest and recruit a top chair for Qantas – possibly one who is prepared to be, for a short time, executive chairman.
At the same time, the new chair with Goyder’s help needs to reconstruct the board.
Without a top new chair and a reconstituted board, new CEO Vanessa Hudson (https://archive.md/o/dksuZ/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/growth-agenda/brand-qantas-will-survive-and-thrive/news-story/2c66b624b444f6f850f42046b3f5ea13), as a top executive in the troubled days, has little chance of extracting herself from the mess.
I don’t believe CBA CEO Matt Comyn, who faced a similar though not as difficult a situation as Hudson on taking office, could have avoided being caught in the 2018 morass of the CBA without having a magnificent chair in Catherine Livingstone.
https://archive.md/dksuZ/6507e36686febb570cba0ccbc6863ecb484f2904.jpg Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce with new boss Vanessa Hudson and chairman Richard Goyder. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NCA Newswire I am an admirer of Goyder, which why I have faith in him doing the right thing by Qantas and the nation. Sadly, he made the mistake of taking on the chair of arguably the three most difficult organisations in this country – the AFL Commission, Woodside and Qantas. His talents were spread too thin, and living in Perth did not help.
We should not forget that when Joyce took the Qantas CEO reigns under then chairman Leigh Clifford the public company was akin to a government body with management dominated by the unions.
Joyce, under the eye of Clifford, an outstanding job taking the company into the 21st century. And while undertaking the task he kept the brand in great shape.
But 15 years is often too long to be CEO, and in his last years he became totally besotted with maximising the profit and was prepared to trash relations with staff and customers in the process.
And the board and chairman watched ringside the resulting destruction of the Qantas brand and staff relations, thanks to the graphic and regular findings of Morgan Research. The evidence was there, but neither the chairman nor the board intervened. Had they done so, they might have discovered the ACCC alleged fictitious ticket rackets and refund scandals.
Anecdotally, one of the early chairman of Qantas, Sir Lenox Hewitt, loved sitting up in the front of the aircraft but regularly wandered back to talk to passengers in economy to understand what was really happening to the company’s customers. The tradition didn’t pass down to the current generation of directors.
Qantas embroiled in protectionism scandal with government
That director failure means the governance issues facing the company are substantial.
Qantas has a 70 per cent market share and has become vital to our so many parts of our community. I repeat, we cannot afford this vital Australian company to fall into a governance morass. Yet the issues cover a wide area:
*When did the ACCC begin investigating the company’s fictitious ticket booking practices, and who knew about the investigation? Presumably the chairman did. Presumably the board. If so, in my view, this was vital market information that was not passed on. Those who knew about the investigation and withheld the information obviously had a different view to me about market relevance, but it's a view that will be hard to substantiate.
*The issuing of fictitious tickets and delays in cancellation payments greatly boosted Qantas cash flow. In a company that pays large amounts to lease aircraft, this can be a boost to profits. Was the Qantas cancellation merry go around and fictitious ticket scandal simply a tactic to further inflate profits? If so, what was the boost?
*The Qantas CEO, chair and board correctly ran down the capacity of the airline to minimise losses during the Covid shutdowns and were understandably caught by the sudden resurgence in demand. What was required was a massive exercise of staff and customer relations that would have cost large amounts of money via one-off compensation and incentive programs, but would have retained the faith of its customers and staff. Profits would have been reduced
*Why did the company suddenly decide to increase its share buyback rate late in May 2023 when presumably the board knew about the ACCC investigation, and the boost being given to profits by the failure to refund cancellations?
*Who gave permission for the CEO to sell his shares into the buyback rather than to wait until the profit and ACCC investigation was announced? Once the ACCC investigation was announced, the shares fell sharply.
*Why on earth would Qantas have so publicly backed a political issue such as the “yes” campaign in the full knowledge that many of its shareholders, customers and suppliers had a different view. One explanation is that is sought good relations with the Albanese government at the same time the government was considering what to do with the Qatar airlines expansion application. (In what is probably a coincidence, but the AFL Commission backed “yes” while the federal government was considering backing the Hobart stadium).
‘Ridiculous’: Qantas ‘can’t let’ Alan Joyce go with $24 million
The industry superannuation funds are major shareholders in Qantas, and they will be debating whether to take legal action. What they should do is ensure that Goyder does what he is required to do. Both ASIC and ACCC will need to devote large resources to the issues. Qantas itself will need to devote resources, which is why the chair may need to be an executive chair for a short time.
I believe that a new chair and a reconstructed board should be able to take a fresh approach to these matters and sort them out in what ever way is appropriate.
We may find that in some of the above situations that the company did nothing wrong at all. But there is no way Goyder and Hudson can resolve those issues, given their possible involvement in the knowledge or decision-making process.
Richard Goyder at this stage is the best possible person to select a top chair and, with that chair, reconstruct the board. He will then be able to leave the company knowing that he had the courage to realise the seriousness of the situation and to have acted in the national interest.
The worst possible thing for Qantas is if he tries to hang on and he and the company gets caught up in a total morass. And it is Australia that has the most to lose if he takes that course.

SOPS

11th Sep 2023, 05:07

Why has it taken so long for people to work all this out? It’s nothing that has not been said on here for years.

dragon man

11th Sep 2023, 06:12

Analysis (https://www.crikey.com.au/analysis/) / Business (https://www.crikey.com.au/business/)Labor fought to protect Qantas’ Europe business — but it’s an illusionThe national carrier's alliance with Emirates, which governs an international network of flights, is by no means an equal partnership.

MICHAEL SAINSBURY (https://www.crikey.com.au/author/michael-sainsbury/)

SEP 11, 2023

2 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/11/qantas-emirates-alliance-alan-joyce-labor/#comments)

Give this article
https://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/yvPk3r-9yDIOh2ZRzK7mED8qznMju061In9PZN7onfvlLUVXubasPH05ePZCpNFMfOG _JBgqKBvz3lhW18M8DxfCMDj1ewSt5PSAdcIPbgETI3PVluC37hcCzEMmCXo 1bqC7tdkrtO9rstMcivLCgXHVirI=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230824001834139886-original-copy.jpg?w=740QANTAS' FORMER CEO ALAN JOYCE (LEFT) AND NEW CEO VANESSA HUDSON (IMAGE: AAP/BIANCA DE MARCHI)The closer one looks, the worse the government’s Qantas protection racket — blocking Qatar and others from the lucrative Europe business in favour of the 10-year-old Qantas/Emirates alliance — looks. It also casts a light on the collapse of Qantas’ own international network, under the stewardship of departed CEO Alan Joyce.

Qantas (https://centreforaviation.com/data/profiles/airlines/qantas-airways-qf)’ alliance with Emirates (https://centreforaviation.com/data/profiles/airlines/emirates-airline-ek) took effect in 2013, with Joyce crediting it at the time (https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/qantas-reports-aud192-million-profit-as-the-emirates-deal-helps-long-haul-losses-halve-125857) with having “revitalised” his carrier’s position on the so-called Kangaroo Route. But insiders at Qantas refer to the European business, largely run by Emirates from an actual flights point of view, as a “virtual airline”.

“The combined Qantas and Emirates network provides one of the most comprehensive international networks in the world, offering customers a wide range of travel options between Australia and New Zealand. Choose from three hub options – Dubai, Perth and Singapore, and enjoy seamless connections to destinations across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East,” Qantas boasts (https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/network-and-partner-airlines/emirates.html) on its website.

Here, the casual Australian traveller would think, is their travel answer: my “national carrier” will fly me all over the Western world — and even to Africa. The truth is chastening. Dig a little deeper and one discovers that Qantas only operates a fig leaf of seven flights to London — via Singapore — from Sydney each week and seven from Melbourne via Perth to London.
https://ci5.googleusercontent.com/proxy/0FGc0JojNl8nt5twSDUl2UvzjSPqALHllrijvl0j7F5CvnhK6u97Gs4_m4gJ zoIdEuhMCKbx4bqMv0lKVZigESx84N7g9k1Ehbj9kYRYvulESjeZX8RgNMpN FYvaLZKAJiK5iNeAECAovktpyobUk_2D3BAB9XhySSItuiyOXUdINTM=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/1120230824001834138147-original-copy.jpg?w=224&h=120&crop=1 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/qantas-ceo-vanessa-hudson-pilots-engineers-plane-damage/)‘All skeleton’: Can Qantas’ new CEO salvage an airline amid the wreckage? (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/qantas-ceo-vanessa-hudson-pilots-engineers-plane-damage/)Read More (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/qantas-ceo-vanessa-hudson-pilots-engineers-plane-damage/)Apart from three times a week during July-October to Rome (from Perth), that is the sum total of Qantas’ European business — so only 14 flights a week. Its “partner” Emirates, on the other hand, offers 91 flights a week (https://www.qantas.com/agencyconnect/au/en/products-and-network/network-and-travel-classes/uk-and-europe.html) out of Australia.

Qantas’ European service is simply smoke-and-mirrors ticket clipping, akin to a travel agent. The Australian company takes a percentage, thought to be about 10% of the ticket price — the usual Qantas financial transparency applies here, as it won’t divulge the true amount — for marketing the Emirates service.

It’s virtual, and virtually risk-free, profit. Customers using these flights have become used to the superior Emirates inflight service and on-time aircraft. Sure, codeshare customers still get Qantas points that they can use domestically or in Asia — when they can find a flight — but Qantas has largely lost them to Emirates’ superior “product”. The deal means Qantas effectively sent, and is continuing to send, an increasing number of jobs to Dubai during the course of the deal.

Conversely, having allowed Qatar to send dozens more flights in and out of Australia would have brought thousands of jobs to Australia in terms of tourism, and at a time when Qantas is actively offshoring its flight attendants jobs to cheaper places, such as New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Thailand, and continues to push engineering work offshore.

Indeed, the Emirates deal even extends to New Zealand. This suits the Middle Eastern carrier as it can park its planes in Christchurch overnight, a much cheaper prospect than leaving them in Sydney. That is also the one part of the deal that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) — when it approved another five years (https://www.accc.gov.au/public-registers/authorisations-and-notifications-registers/authorisations-register/qantas-airways-limited-emirates-0) for the airline alliance last month — said it will continue to monitor.

Indeed, when ticking off the deal, the ACCC ignored the strenuous objections of Australian travel agents, who are currently also furious about the nixing of Qatar’s bid for more flights, now the subject of a Senate inquiry.

“If authorisation is provided, an authorisation period beyond five years would be presumptive in circumstances where massive transformations are occurring across the industry in a rapidly evolving post-pandemic landscape,” the Australian Federation of Travel Agents said in a submission (https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/public-registers/documents/Submission%20by%20Australian%20Federation%20of%20Travel%20Ag ents%20-%2027.01.23%20-%20PR%20-%20AA1000625%20Qantas%20Emirates.pdf).

“There has not been sufficient evidence provided by the applicants to support the continuation of coordination on distribution strategies for passengers and agents. Aligning these activities appears to have the impact of limiting choices for consumers on how they shop and book travel.”

For all former CEO Alan Joyce’s blather about wanting to fly to Frankfurt, Paris and elsewhere in Europe with the new long-range A350s (https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/our-company/fleet/new-fleet/project-sunrise.html) — due to start arriving in about three years — a decade or so ago Qantas was indeed flying more to Europe. This is before, as one pilot noted: “Joyce destroyed the international network, cutting daily flights to Frankfurt, flights to Rome, as well as daily [flights from] Sydney to London via Bangkok and Hong Kong.”

It was not just Europe, as Joyce also ended the popular network that linked Asian cities such as Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Jakarta. By doing this he ceded passengers — and Australian soft power — to the likes of Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Thai Airways, pilots said. British Airways took up the slack on the Hong Kong-London leg.

In its place, Joyce created a Jetstar Asia network that has not at all gone according to plan. It looked great on paper — a group of four companies based in Singapore (Jetstar Asia), Vietnam (Jetstar Pacific), Japan (Jetstar Japan), and the pièce de résistance Jetstar Hong Hong, designed to serve the Chinese mainland, using a low-cost carrier mode.

But Joyce and his team fundamentally misread the regimes in Vietnam and Hong Kong/China, the speed the market would grow, and the rapid emergence of Asia’s homegrown low-cost carriers. The Vietnamese airline was the subject of a firesale after two of its executives were detained (https://www.smh.com.au/national/airline-executives-finally-allowed-to-leave-vietnam-20100701-zqo5.html) for five months. Jetstar Hong Kong (https://aviationweek.com/air-transport/airports-networks/hong-kong-rejects-jetstar-hk-application) never even began. These were all abject failures that should have killed Joyce’s career.

Qantas retains only minority shareholdings in the Singapore and Japan-based companies, of which the connecting arrangements with the handful of Qantas planes working Asian routes are clunky and often unworkable.
https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/xdrjlMBC0d1Eiwx6FNBSY-A3ha3129Fiil3eCnDEDPOsgbCUFVdVesfPH5CyIDVxTFjVQDtuFrdQv_qn-8xSAMTUCqHvvGWppNKWF6XldwnIKN4ZR7pgTZsmUrvc0Y9cUHPcleg-8nXZbtFi-Px_BL3yvVxQU9lRey82pf0K4pVu=s0-d-e1-ft#https://www.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/20230223001766885878-original-copy.jpg?w=224&h=120&crop=1 (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/alan-joyce-qantas-resignation-airline/)It’s a Joyce, joke: Qantas is just capitalism doing its job properly (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/alan-joyce-qantas-resignation-airline/)Read More (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/07/alan-joyce-qantas-resignation-airline/)So, to the new (old) plan of more flights to Europe, this time using direct long-range A350s. To make the lengthy journey, these planes will have to carry considerably more fuel, as well as fewer passengers, pilots said. This means higher fares for customers — by about 30% — for a time saving of only two hours.

Indeed, analysis done internally by Qantas showed that it was more cost-effective for the company to fly to these destinations via certain cities in Canada and the USA. The planes will also burn more fuel, denting Qantas’s long-term green-washing efforts. But you won’t have read any of this in the Qantas spin for Joyce’s most outrageous vanity project.

The A350s, along with the other dozen new planes belatedly arriving to replenish Qantas’ ageing fleet, are already hitting Hudson where it hurts, on the bottom line, as the Australian dollar continues to slide. This is also adding countless millions to offshore engineering costs in an industry where almost all contracts are in US dollars.

Joyce’s international strategy — slash flights, increase codeshare, send jobs offshore — is a classic example of a short-term, shareholder-focused, bonus-achieving strategy. It’s what happens when the government privatise taxpayer-owned assets with no obligations to service routers, customers or staff — or with no industry-specific regulation for the company involved. Yet that is something the Albanese government appears to be determined to let roll on.

Vanessa Hudson has just stepped into her job as Qantas CEO, but is being tested immediately. She is now staring at rising costs completely out of her control due to currency fluctuations, and meanwhile the unions are restless. This week, the High Court will also hand down its decision on whether Qantas illegally sacked 1700 baggage handlers, the ramifications of which could be extraordinary

Global Aviator

11th Sep 2023, 07:14

Don’t forget there was also Red Q.

https://www.executivetraveller.com/qantas-to-ground-asian-based-red-q-airline-before-it-launches

V-Jet

11th Sep 2023, 10:35

Boston Consulting. Just read an article in the Australian on them being engaged.

I was suspicious of Vanessa - given her fingerprints over everything since the lockout, but I’ll call it now.

Going down this path means she’s on struggle street and grasping at straws. She’s not confident, she’s wasting money and if it all goes pear shaped - she’s got a ready made scapegoat…

Aren’t CEO’s paid millions because they know what they are doing?

She’s immediately outsourcing management! This is NUTS!

rowdy trousers

11th Sep 2023, 11:07

How stupid are these people. Now going to spend millions with Boston to be told they need to spend millions on staff engagement and resourcing.

A320 Flyer

11th Sep 2023, 11:20

Maybe Boston Bruce will re-enter the sphere…. Then we’ll all be cooked

V-Jet

11th Sep 2023, 11:20

How stupid are these people. Now going to spend millions with Boston to be told they need to spend millions on staff engagement and resourcing.Melchett:
Exactly! And that is what is so brilliant about it! It will catch the watchful Hun totally off guard! Doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before is exactly the last thing they'll expect us to do this time! There is, however, one small problem.

Blackadder:
That everyone always gets slaughtered in the first ten seconds.

Melchett:
That's right. And Field Marshal Haig is worried this may be depressing the men a tad. So he's looking for a way to cheer them up.

Blackadder:
Well, his resignation and suicide seems the obvious choice.

Melchett:
Hmm, interesting thought. Make a note of it, Darling.

Global Aviator

11th Sep 2023, 11:57

You couldn’t make this ****e up if you tried!

If they continue down this route then I can only see it hurting the brand even more.

With the destruction that’s been left behind it would be a dream (albeit a huge challenge) for a fresh CEO to come in and pick up the pieces.

The dream team of the last xx years ain’t gunna cut it and it looks like the board really need a shake up along the way.

Good luck and for the employees above all I really hope it works out.

SOPS

11th Sep 2023, 12:24

Hudson is not the answer. She has been there all through the destruction and must have OKed it. She can’t fix it. She is part of the problem. .

V-Jet

11th Sep 2023, 12:35

If she’s hired Boston as her first thought, she’s not part of the problem, she IS the problem!!

I don’t understand how this is possible having been there since ‘94 - but I don’t think she actually understands the business of Qantas. Which makes me think she’s been part of the ‘new broom’ that’s wrecked the place - from the very beginning!!

Ollie Onion

11th Sep 2023, 13:04

The same Boston Consulting that used to teach the line ‘if annual staff turnover is less than 5% you can cut more terms and conditions’.

ampclamp

11th Sep 2023, 13:08

Why has it taken so long for people to work all this out? It’s nothing that has not been said on here for years.

People that could have done anything were either in on it, swayed by the 'soft influence" or by his smooth talking and blaming the unions.

He was a champion to the conservatives for his union bashing and he's clearly too close to Albanese as recent events have shown.

blubak

11th Sep 2023, 21:56

Hudson is not the answer. She has been there all through the destruction and must have OKed it. She can’t fix it. She is part of the problem. .
She has full knowledge of all the schemes now uncovered.
They have stood side by side comparing notes & ticking off each decision made over their reign together.
Interesting day tomorrow when the high court decides on the ramp workers termination.

SIUYA

11th Sep 2023, 22:34

Global Aviator said:

The dream team of the last xx years ain’t gunna cut it and it looks like the board really need a shake up along the way.

Precisely, starting with Goyder. :mad:

A good summary of Goyder's leadership at QF:

Richard Goyder’s days as Qantas chairman are numbered — and deservedly so

Story by Adam Schwab

It certainly has been a tale of two Goyders. The best of times, the worst of times.

Rewind a year and Richard Goyder was arguably the most powerful person in corporate Australia, being chairman of three of Australia’s ten leading organisations: Qantas, the AFL and Woodside. Having two of these roles is remarkable; having three is some sort of Melbourne Club Jedi mind trick.

Meanwhile, Richard’s cousin, Tim, also known as the “other Goyder” (https://www.afr.com/wealth/investing/meet-the-other-goyder-who-just-made-225m-20201215-p56nm4), was toiling away in the far less salubrious mid-cap mining sector, with stakes in up-and-comer explorer Chalice Mining and lithium play Liontown Resources.

Quite a lot has changed in a year.

Now, Tim Goyder is on top of the world. Last week Liontown agreed to a $6.6 billion sale (https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/liontown-opens-the-door-to-a-lithium-mega-deal-20230904-p5e1s0.html) to American giant Albermarle (with Gina Rinehart circling, the price could be even higher). And with Chalice also performing well, Tim Goyder’s net worth is arguably now more than an estimated $1.2 billion.

Meanwhile, poor Richie Goyder’s reputation is worth less than a million unredeemable Qantas points, having staked his repute on the performance of his beloved Alan Joyce — the “best CEO in the country by the length of a straight”. Joyce, who these days would struggle to beat Harvey Weinstein in a popularity contest, led Qantas off a reputational cliff, culminating in an unprecedented ACCC action for alleged misleading and deceptive conduct (https://www.crikey.com.au/2023/09/01/qantas-accc-sued-ticket-scandal/), which could cost Qantas shareholders upwards of $600 million.

The true scale of Goyder’s mess is slowly coming to light. The chairman backed Joyce through years of customer service woes, the trashing of Qantas’ reputation, and a long-running regulatory investigation — and all on the basis that the beleaguered CEO delivered big time for Qantas shareholders. This well-worn trope, presumably a Joyce PR-creation (the man after all is a PR and lobbying genius), is gleefully regurgitated by business commentators.

But even the myth of Joyce being a hero of Qantas shareholders is questionable. Roughly a year before Joyce was appointed CEO in 2008, Qantas had hit $6.34 per share. But Joyce had the good fortune of taking over from Geoff Dixon just as the global financial crisis was reaching its peak, with Qantas’ share price slumping to around $2.75 by the time Joyce took the reins.

As of writing, Qantas is trading at $5.54 (with the company having only paid 69 cents in dividends since 2009). That means Qantas has returned 126% since the start of Joyce’s tenure (and far less if you use an averaged pre-GFC price). The S&P200 Total Return Index is up by 145% since 2011 (as far back as online records show) and would be significantly higher since 2008.

In short, Qantas significantly underperformed the index. For Joyce’s co-called corporate magnificence, Qantas is trading at a lower level than in 2007, even if you include dividends.

But that’s not all. Airline stocks are extraordinarily fraught. As noted by Warren Buffett (whose few rare investing mistakes involved aviation), “If a far-sighted capitalist had been present at Kitty Hawk, he would have done his successors a huge favour by shooting Orville down.” When investing in airlines, which are prone to wild swings in investor sentiment, shareholders require additional “alpha” to cover the elevated risk. That is, you don’t invest in airlines to get “market-like” returns; you can buy a cheap index fund for that. Shareholders invest in airlines to get significantly above market returns.

Joyce, for all the supposed adulation, did as good a job for Qantas shareholders as he did for Jetstar customers still waiting for their missing bags from their Cairns flight in October 2022.

This is where Goyder got it so wrong. Joyce was no messiah, and the estimated $125 million pay packet that former chairman Leigh Clifford and Goyder showered upon him was utterly undeserved. Not only did Joyce trash Qantas’ incredible brand and customer loyalty, not only did he leave the airline’s new CEO Vanessa Hudson with a $15 billion bill for new planes, but he also didn’t even deliver a market return for shareholders.

Meanwhile, in June, Goyder allowed Joyce to cash in $17 million in Qantas shares while the CEO had full knowledge (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-05/qantas-alan-joyce-fall-from-grace-qatar-accc-flights-shares/102810986#:~:text=This%20was%20all%20done%20with%20board%20a pproval.%20As%20was%20Joyce%27s%20recent%20decision%20to%20s ell%20%2417%20million%20worth%20of%20Qantas%20shares%20at%20 a%20time%20he%20knew%20the%20ACCC%20was%20investigating%20it s%20flight%20credit%20debacle.) of a serious ACCC investigation. The Goyder-sanctioned share sale harks back to the bad old days of Australian executive remuneration, where complicit boards let executives like Phil Green, Sol Trujillo and David Coe make millions of dollars while shareholders saw their stakes dwindle.

Goyder’s position as Qantas chairman (along with his fading AFL role) is completely untenable. It was remarkable that Goyder — who was a massive failure as CEO of Wesfarmers, wasting billions on its poorly timed Coles acquisition — was able to recraft himself as some sort of boardroom sage. During his 12-year reign at Wesfarmers, its share price rose a mere 10% (compared with 34% for the All Ordinaries, a total market barometer for the Australian stock market).

Goyder was the Keyser Söze of the directors club, somehow convincing corporate Australia that a disastrous tenure running Wesfarmers meant he was fit to chair three of the country’s most prestigious institutions.

The mess at Qantas is what happens when a weak chair becomes infatuated with a celebrity CEO. It will be a miracle if Goyder lasts until Christmas. If he had any sense, he’d avoid fronting the Qantas AGM scheduled for 3 November. His transition from dean of the Australian Chairman’s Club to corporate governance laughing stock has been swift indeed.

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

11th Sep 2023, 23:26

This is where Goyder got it so wrong. Joyce was no messiah, and the estimated $125 million pay packet that former chairman Leigh Clifford and Goyder showered upon him was utterly undeserved. Not only did Joyce trash Qantas’ incredible brand and customer loyalty, not only did he leave the airline’s new CEO Vanessa Hudson with a $15 billion bill for new planes, but he also didn’t even deliver a market return for shareholders.

It's amazing how all these investigative and financial journo's climbing on the "it was so obvious" bash Joyce and Qantas bandwagon had completely missed the boat until it was put on a platter before them. If Alston at the AFR hadn't been the only one prepared to call a spade a spade, AJ, Hudson, Goyder et al would be still on the farewell gravy train. Now there's so many people distancing themselves, you wonder who was ever up the pointy end on jollies or in the lounges.

SOPS

12th Sep 2023, 00:37

It's amazing how all these investigative and financial journo's climbing on the "it was so obvious" bash Joyce and Qantas bandwagon had completely missed the boat until it was put on a platter before them. If Alston at the AFR hadn't been the only one prepared to call a spade a spade, AJ, Hudson, Goyder et al would be still on the farewell gravy train. Now there's so many people distancing themselves, you wonder who was ever up the pointy end on jollies or in the lounges.

Please see my post a bit earlier. I could not agree with you more.

dragon man

12th Sep 2023, 00:57

Two journalists who didn’t were Micheal West and Michael Sainsbury they have been writing about this for years but unfortunately don’t get the exposure.

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

12th Sep 2023, 01:09

1A_Please

12th Sep 2023, 01:32

Interesting to see that Terry McCrann, who doesn't disclose it but is known to be a Chairmans Lounge member, has written a defence of Qantas in today's Herald-Sun etc. Makes me think Qantas may have called some of their CL members to use their influence to change the conversation.

Chronic Snoozer

12th Sep 2023, 01:42

I saw your post and obviously agree with you. However, comments on an internet forum by what in most cases could be seen to be just disgruntled QF staff vs mainstream "name" journos feeling it's now safe to stick their head above the parapet? Literally everyone is now having a chop. Makes you wonder why no one was prepared to ask the hard questions before, or if they did, was it just drowned in the white noise?

What gave it traction was mass dissatisfaction of the customer base. It is poetic though, it was entirely the Board and management's fault they couldn't steer the ship properly. Didn't have the answers they're paid to have so now they phone a friend. (BCG)

dragon man

12th Sep 2023, 01:45

I saw your post and obviously agree with you. However, comments on an internet forum by what in most cases could be seen to be just disgruntled QF staff vs mainstream "name" journos feeling it's now safe to stick their head above the parapet? Literally everyone is now having a chop. Makes you wonder why no one was prepared to ask the hard questions before, or if they did, was it just drowned in the white noise?

upgrades and free lounge membership I would say. Qantas has been a train wreck for years but as you say the noise now is to big so they all hop on the band wagon

V-Jet

12th Sep 2023, 02:37

High Court reveals every current judge is a member of Qantas’ ‘most exclusive club in Australia’The High Court has exposed secret members of Qantas’ exclusive Chairman’s Lounge amid a landmark case over the sacking of 1700 workers.The High Court has revealed every current judge is a member of Qantas’ secretive Chairman’s Lounge, an invitation-only club that offers its members free champagne, steak dinners and cocktails on demand.

As the High Court (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-sued-by-consumer-watchdog-for-allegedly-advertising-tickets-for-8000-flights-already-cancelled/news-story/1316e4f2420099f5639f7359315871b2) prepares to hand down its judgment in a landmark case regarding the long-running battle between Qantas and the Transport Workers’ Union (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-advice/flights/i-will-not-question-qantas-boss-alan-joyce-refused-to-answer-at-feisty-inquiry/news-story/cb53a6f8a72186dbdbd7faedb93c0118)(TWU) over the sacking of 1,700 ground staff (https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/qantas-forecasts-recordbreaking-profit-as-international-travel-nears-precovid-levels/news-story/71134fcb7085f0d7cfc402ff61db58f2) at the height of the pandemic, a spokesman has confirmed the issue was raised and cleared with the parties involved.

From news.com.au.

We all knew it, it’s just coming out how weaponised the lounge was. It’s now looking like like Capone era stuff!!:):)
’I told the Judge his name was on the list as well’

dragon man

12th Sep 2023, 02:51

The fix is simple no one on the government payroll can accept a membership. Problem solved. Would any government have the balls to do it, I doubt it.

V-Jet

12th Sep 2023, 02:57

I wouldn’t be surprised if ‘people’ start handing their memberships back so as to avoid uncomfortable questioning.

neville_nobody

12th Sep 2023, 03:15

The fix is simple no one on the government payroll can accept a membership. Problem solved. Would any government have the balls to do it, I doubt it.

But it has been brought up in parliament in the past and given the green light, so why is it now an issue??

Certainly if I was in a court case against QF I would be pushing very hard against the Judge on the matter of conflict of interest The argument in the past has been it is given to the office holder not the individual, but I believe even that is very murky.

megan

12th Sep 2023, 03:53

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

12th Sep 2023, 04:09

a spokesman has confirmed the issue was raised and cleared with the parties involved.
Snuffle snuffle "Do you see a problem here?" Snuffle
Snuffle gulp "No, none what so ever! Pass the Beluga, if you don't mind" snuffle gulp snuffle
Gulp snuffle "Good, so we're unanimous then! My, the Chateau Lafite is a good one today. What time is your flight?" snuffle snuffle

Chronic Snoozer

12th Sep 2023, 04:26

When you think about it the Chairmans Club is just a sophisticated version of a drug peddler paying off the police, it's all about buying influence, those steaks and champagne don't come cost free to QF.

It's not even sophisticated. Blatant as. But there are obviously important privacy issues at stake such that QANTAS can't 'talk' about them.

Just think about that for a moment. The CEO personally selects the individuals invited to the CC. Including all High Court judges and many, many elected officials. Forget the pub test, you'd be defenestrated from the front bar at astonishing velocity and arc.

LAME2

12th Sep 2023, 06:51

Nice quote V-Jet from the movie The Untouchables.

V-Jet

12th Sep 2023, 07:10

artee

12th Sep 2023, 07:47

It's not even sophisticated. Blatant as. But there are obviously important privacy issues at stake such that QANTAS can't 'talk' about them.

Just think about that for a moment. The CEO personally selects the individuals invited to the CC. Including all High Court judges and many, many elected officials. Forget the pub test, you'd be defenestrated from the front bar at astonishing velocity and arc.
But the judges will probably summon all their entitled arrogance and say "It's absurd to think that I would be influenced by... "

V-Jet

12th Sep 2023, 07:56

But the judges will probably summon all their entitled arrogance and say "It's absurd to think that I would be influenced by... "

As will everyone. But does it pass the ‘pub test?’.

I might well be wrong, but I suspect the golden era of the Chairman’s Lounge may well be in its twilight.

There are very awkward questions for people in public realms to answer. And let’s face it - they can comfortably afford such travel out of their own pocket, so why should they need such extravagance?

Barry O’Farrell resigned as the Premier of NSW over the gift of a single bottle of Penfolds Grange. Value - maybe $1500. In that context, the fabled Chairman’s Lounge invite could very quickly become quite the poisoned chalice…

blubak

12th Sep 2023, 08:18

But the judges will probably summon all their entitled arrogance and say "It's absurd to think that I would be influenced by... "
Interesting its these high court judges that are deciding the twu case against qf tomorrow.
What could go wrong!

Lead Balloon

12th Sep 2023, 08:40

It's an interesting conundrum. The High Court judges declare they are the beneficiaries of some Qantas largesse, which leads to a perceived conflict of interest for them in presiding over a controversy involving Qantas. So far, so good. But ...

What say you, parties? Well, what choice did they have? The only solution to the perceived conflict of interest ground would be to request that the judges with the perceived conflict of interest not sit on the court hearing the appeal. But that's all of them...

framer

12th Sep 2023, 09:07

How did it come out that the Judge in this case is a member of the Chairman’s Lounge? Did they declare it or did a journo find out and publish it?

HongKongflu

12th Sep 2023, 09:08

The Chairmans lounge starting to look like a Freemasons "Gold club". Headed up, until a few days ago, by one of the greatest white collar criminals in Australian history, still nothing will be done........

Lead Balloon

12th Sep 2023, 09:09

The judges involved would have declared it, framer.

The transcript of the hearing of the substantive issues is here (http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCATrans/2023/54.html) and here (http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/cth/HCATrans/2023/56.html). 7 out of 7 judges of the current High Court heard the appeal.

artee

12th Sep 2023, 09:17

The judges involved would have declared it, framer.
If they have accepted largesse from one of the parties to the appeal, should they not recuse themselves?

CaptainInsaneO

12th Sep 2023, 09:17

Could it have leaked by disgruntled staff? Could the ACCC case have started from a leak as well?

Chronic Snoozer

12th Sep 2023, 09:22

But the judges will probably summon all their entitled arrogance and say "It's absurd to think that I would be influenced by... "

"Well quite! Pass me another water biscuit with goose liver pâté, my good man. This Château Lafite tastes even better when it's on the house".

Lead Balloon

12th Sep 2023, 09:34

If they have accepted largesse from one of the parties to the appeal, should they not recuse themselves?
Well, in theory, yes. But all 7 judges of the High Court have accepted the largesse. That's why I said the circumstances presented quite a conundrum for the parties, and may explain why they didn't object to the matter proceeding. There's no one and no court left to hear the appeal.

walesregent

12th Sep 2023, 10:45

If they have accepted largesse from one of the parties to the appeal, should they not recuse themselves?

given the radioactivity of anything Qantas at the moment maybe they’ll be at pains to uphold the ruling to maintain credibility. Fingers crossed anyway

neville_nobody

12th Sep 2023, 12:38

Barry O’Farrell resigned as the Premier of NSW over the gift of a single bottle of Penfolds Grange. Value - maybe $1500. In that context, the fabled Chairman’s Lounge invite could very quickly become quite the poisoned chalice…

The Chairman’s Lounge has no value though as no one pays for it. I believe OFarrell’s problem was he didn’t declare a gift over a certain amount

rcoight

12th Sep 2023, 13:10

The Chairman’s Lounge has no value though as no one pays for it.

That’s not entirely true, though. The travelling public are paying for Albo’s son to be a member.

V-Jet

12th Sep 2023, 14:23

The Chairman’s Lounge has no value though as no one pays for it. I believe OFarrell’s problem was he didn’t declare a gift over a certain amount

You’re right, and I thought about it. The more I thought about it the more relevant it appeared to be (to me). On Q&A the other night a pollie (can’t remember who as they all had Lounge access!) said it wasn’t a big deal to be offered a pack of mouldy peanuts by Qf. If a Rockpool menu, complimentary Grange, a cosseted lounge, chauffeured booking and upgrade offerings are written off as ‘mouldy peanuts’ - then to my mind it’s FAR more than Barry’s single bottle, even though he would have had CL access as well.

Wilkie came up with the only reasonable argument (though feeble IMHO) this afternoon - and that was if it was that important, no one would be criticising Qf, and as they are, Ipso facto, it doesn’t affect opinion.

I would suggest that Qf has escaped criticism for so long for a number of reasons, but the Lounge certainly helps. Further, the argument completely collapses when reversed. If very expensive to set up, maintain and operate Lounges aren’t of intrinsic value to Qantas/management - why do they exist at all? Membership is NOT a function of money spent (although Joyce stated that’s VERY recently changed - we’ve only got his word on that) it’s handed out for ‘free’ to some people who rarely fly at all. Why? Why doesn’t every FF get it? Or everyone??

If CL access isn’t worth more than Farry O’Barrels Grange - each year - I’ll eat one of those disgusting poofy hats Elaine made us wear.

hotnhigh

12th Sep 2023, 15:43

Testament to the man that he immediately boarded an emirates 380 and left for Dublin. Or so goes the rumour.

UnderneathTheRadar

12th Sep 2023, 19:59

If CL access isn’t worth more than Farry O’Barrels Grange - each year - I’ll eat one of those disgusting poofy hats Elaine made us wear.

The difference is that they all disclose it - see https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Members/Register

It's recorded in the section: "Gifts valued at more than $750 received from official sources, or at more than $300 where
received from other than official sources." or "Any sponsored travel or hospitality received where the value of the sponsored travel or hospitality exceeds $300"

So, to quote Private Eye, "that's all right then".

But logically, anyone currently in a role where there is a conflict between their day job (Minister for Transport, Shadow Minister, Minister for Infrastructure, Minister for Regions & of course the PM and the Opposition leader) should not as a matter of good practice maintain the membership. There's a fundamental oxymoron that says if Qantas want you in the Chairmans Lounge then they have a reason for that and, if you're a public servant or working for or on behalf of the public service then you shouldn't accept membership as it's a conflict of interest that its been offered to you.

There is no reason for the High Court Justices to be members - they would be frequent business class travellers for sure - but ask what differentiates them from your typical senior business type who flies weekly business around the country or the world? At the very least, the day Qantas lodged their appeal, all seven should have resigned from the CL (except they shouldn't have been in there in the first place). Now we have a complete perversion of justice - especially if the TWU loses - the court will lose serious credibility on the basis that there was a perceived conflict of interest. Irrespective of if the conflict exists or not.

gordonfvckingramsay

12th Sep 2023, 20:19

How interesting that in a country like Australia the only court that seems devoid of corruption is the court of public opinion. These blokes need to be called out and their corruption, ahemmm sorry, CL membership made public.

dragon man

12th Sep 2023, 20:54

I find it amusing that this is now only becoming public knowledge the day before the judgement. Could this be because the howls before the case would have been extremely uncomfortable for both the judges and the government? The old saying do as I say not as I do.

SIUYA

12th Sep 2023, 21:56

dragon man asked:

Could this be because the howls before the case would have been extremely uncomfortable for both the judges and the government?

I'd make that a definite YES.

NSW ICAC has this to say about accepting hospitality giving rise to Conflict of Interest:

The relationship that arises from accepting hospitality is very sensitive because of perceptions about the effect of hospitality. It is common for people to believe that hospitality is offered to public officials in order to influence them. In addition, your gifts policy should proscribe the acceptance of frequent small gifts that create the perception that a relationship has arisen with the gift-giver. This is particularly the case when the public official deals with the entity that is connected to the provision of hospitality.

ICAC then says this about disclosure of an interest to affected and interested parties as a method of managing that COI:

Generally, informing affected and interested parties about a COI should not be relied on as the only way of managing a COI. It is common for managers and affected staff to underestimate the level of bias that can still arise from a COI. Consequently, additional management options are advisable.

From that, and from a layman’s point of view, it appears to me that any judge who is involved with the QF case and who holds a CL membership probably had a COI problem, and that even if the membership WAS disclosed, given the widespread publicity surrounding QF, there was still potential for a sufficient level of bias to make additional management options advisable by the respective judges, e.g., publicly renouncing their CL memberships.

Lead Balloon

12th Sep 2023, 23:11

I have to say that I'm very surprised that any High Court judges have accepted the Qantas CL largesse. But it appears they all have. I have not heard any reports of insistence on payment, out of the judges' remuneration packages, of the proper costs of the use of the CL.

I don't reckon that renouncing CL membership would 'undo' the effects - actual or perceived - of the largesse already received. But as I said earlier, the conundrum here is that there would be no High Court judges left to hear matters involving Qantas.

An odd aspect of the public sector is the pervasive view that the mere act of declaring a conflict of interest obviates the problem. I've seen senior public officials blandly tell a Parliamentary committee that it was OK for Bob to continue to be on the evaluation panel for a government tender process because Bob had declared that he is an employee of one of the tenderers. Memo to senior public officials: No, it's not OK for Bob to have any involvement in the evaluation of those tenders. The members of the evaluation panel should be prohibited from having any further contact with Bob, except in accordance with the Contact Officer provisions of the tender. If the process has already been tainted by Bob's involvement, the process should be terminated and restarted by people who are competent and free of conflicts.

hotnhigh

13th Sep 2023, 00:25

And one further matter to deal with. A board spill and complete revamp. Those that orchestrated and implemented such policies from mid tier management can go as well.
additionally, the stip and ltip bonus plans scrapped immediately. Salaried positions from the ceo down.
If they don’t like it, they can :fx32 off.

brokenagain

13th Sep 2023, 00:34

How can Goyder and Hudson remain after all of this?

Shark Patrol

13th Sep 2023, 00:36

Time for Qantas to be renationalised.

dragon man

13th Sep 2023, 00:42

A company that has no moral compass and would make Gordon Gecko blush. Well done Joyce.

V-Jet

13th Sep 2023, 00:43

Surely Hudson is under intense pressure. It is beyond credulity that her fingerprints are not all over these decisions. She is complicit in everything - if not the actual driving force.

gordonfvckingramsay

13th Sep 2023, 01:05

Time for Qantas to be renationalised.

Hear, hear! Corporations have shown for several decades that they are not responsible corporate citizens. Nationally important companies should be returned at least to majority Government owned. QF is just the tip of the iceberg and the list of important pieces of infrastructure being held hostage to this sort of corporate piracy is very long.

cloudsurfng

13th Sep 2023, 01:33

dragon man

13th Sep 2023, 01:42

All KPI based bonuses need to be stopped .

blubak

13th Sep 2023, 03:17

Surely Hudson is under intense pressure. It is beyond credulity that her fingerprints are not all over these decisions. She is complicit in everything - if not the actual driving force.
And what about the kiwi farmer who continually said everyone was wrong except him & all his back slapping buddies including the new ceo.
Lets see what the penalties & entitlements to ex ground staff amount to.

dragon man

13th Sep 2023, 06:16

And more.The unravelling of Qantas: Can its board survive?https://archive.md/ibKwk/f7ee108c5a773f45efde4e970095474aa7105e1c.webpElizabeth Knight (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/by/elizabeth-knight-hve4o)Business columnistSeptember 13, 2023 Timing is everything. On the heels of Qantas being pinged by the competition regulator, which has started legal action against the airline (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5e0uy) claiming it sold customers tickets for non-existent flights, the High Court’s ruling on Wednesday that it illegally sacked 1700 ground staff cannot go unanswered.
Qantas’ polished public relations image is now unravelling thanks to the actions taken by its former chief executive, for which its board is now accountable. (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5e1l2) https://archive.md/ibKwk/5ebcd1136022d192645b7198360549fcfb14ab0a.webp Happier times: Qantas chairman Richard Goyder (right) and Vanessa Hudson, who took over from Alan Joyce (left) as CEO last week.CREDIT: RHETT WYMAN It is difficult to see how its chairman Richard Goyder (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5e2p5) can survive this. The board may not react immediately to the finding that the airline acted illegally in sacking its ground handling staff. But there is immense pressure on its directors and major shareholders to, at the very least, engineer a timetable for the early departure of Goyder, and a refresh of the Qantas board.
Both the illegal worker sackings and the allegations of mis-selling of tickets may be expensive for Qantas. The unions will seek legal costs and a substantial penalty, and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will seek hundreds of millions of dollars if its legal action is successful.
At the very least, shareholders will not take kindly to that.
The governance accountability playbook is one that has been followed on numerous occasions by companies involved in scandals over recent years, including a couple of major banks in the wake of the financial services royal commission, Rio Tinto after it blew up ancient caves in the Juukan Gorge (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p57syw) and Australia’s two large casino operators aftershortcomings in their anti-money laundering (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5e04t) procedures.
Typically, senior executives are moved on and fresh director blood – untainted by scandal – moves onto the board.
Until this week, Qantas was betting it could deploy the early retirement of Alan Joyce as a circuit breaker - a sacrificial scalp. And if that wasn’t enough, it could claw back some of his $20 million-plus in compensation as a means to mollify the aggrieved mob.This won’t be sufficient now.
There will be fresh pressure on the company’s recently appointed chief executive Vanessa Hudson to acknowledge the airline’s mistakes and demonstrate her preparedness to overhaul its culture of profit at any cost. Play Video
https://archive.md/ibKwk/18787b0a623b6a1fc29d213568b20d764851475f.jpg (https://archive.md/ibKwk#) https://archive.md/ibKwk/18787b0a623b6a1fc29d213568b20d764851475f.jpg (https://archive.md/ibKwk#)
Play video
2:02 (https://archive.md/ibKwk#)Transport Workers Union calls for Qantas board overhaul (https://archive.md/ibKwk#)
The Transport Workers Union has called for an overhaul of the Qantas board after the airline lost its appeal in the High Court.
It is what the community expects when the unacceptable face of capitalism is unmasked.
It isn’t surprising that the Transport Workers Union is calling for Goyder’s scalp, but this time it will have support from other quarters.
The large superannuation funds that own Qantas shares and dominate the largely fractured share register are also in the firing line. Until the past few weeks, they have been supportive or silent on the airline’s poor customer service record or its treatment of workers.
The $2.5 billion profit (https://archive.md/o/ibKwk/https://www.smh.com.au/link/follow-20170101-p5dywc) that Qantas posted for 2023 was made on the back of cutting costs (including staff costs) and raising customer fares.
Joyce had plenty of form on playing incredibly hardball on industrial relations – it was a feature that had endeared him to many shareholders, but had made him unpopular with staff.
Joyce had been a master at courting those who matter – politicians and corporates occupying the big end of town.
His outsized influence in Canberra will now undergo forensic examination at a Senate inquiry into the government’s decision to block Qatar from servicing additional flights into Australia.
The government’s stated reasons included public interest on the basis that it would mean additional jobs for Australian workers.
In light of the High Court decision on Wednesday, this explanation feels farcical.
Meanwhile, the shocking allegations from the ACCC that Qantas engaged in false, misleading and deceptive conduct towards its own customers, if true, breaks the fundamental rule of business that says alienating customers in the pursuit of profit is not a long-term strategy.
The airline said on Wednesday that “we deeply regret the personal impact the outsourcing decision had on all those affected, and we sincerely apologise for that,” but maintained that when it sacked the workers it was in COVID-induced survival mode.
While profits are now booming, it’s the board’s survival that is now in question.

artee

13th Sep 2023, 06:44

And for a bit of light relief, First Dog on the Moon, from The Guardian.

Exclusive! Swish! Ecru napkins! It’s the Qantas Chairperson’s Lounge – is it dodgy AF? (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/13/exclusive-swish-ecru-napkins-its-the-qantas-chairpersons-lounge-is-it-dodgy-af)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/520x2000/fdotm_a0dc8d259ade06ddca70e837782db9c245f69231.jpg

LAME2

13th Sep 2023, 07:00

Lucky no one knew what was coming when he sold all those shares….won’t it be ironic if in the end that is the undoing.

They only got Capone on tax evasion. At the end of the day, whatever works best.

SandyPalms

13th Sep 2023, 07:10

V-Jet

13th Sep 2023, 08:13

What pisses me off SO MUCH - is that Qantas WAS Australian. You gave your all for it like you were in the trenches. Because you represented Australia every single time you put your uniform on.

Joyce and his coterie of enablers completely trashed that legacy. From WWII to the ‘Freedom Birds’ leaving Saigon, Qantas was the surrogate (and corporate) ambassador of Australia. What the Strong/Dixon and Joyce (off the charts) era has done is to prove to the world Australia is all about what’s in it for me.

I’m happy people are realising what has happened.

Im absolutely disgusted it has been done to something that I once thought was a sacrosanct national icon.

What an absolute debacle, On the scale of Enron and Madoff. And yes there are fiscal parallels but none of those rorts tampered with what was perceived around the globe as Australian.

Thats why I’m angry. Nuremburg style cleansing is required to fix this. It isn’t enough that the CEO has run away to the VERY tax effective jurisdiction of Ireland - this has to be a root to branch cleansing.

If this were the French Revolution there would be a VERY well used guillotine outside QCC.

A post script to this. I’m very right wing. VERY. But what staff have witnessed is destruction of everything they held (and were taught to hold) dear. Anyone reading this needs to know the start of ‘Union troubles’ at Qf were a result of cost cutting WAY beyond the pale. Cost cutting to the point of rape is where I saw valuable staff simply give up and accept that everyone at the company was into getting as much money out them as you could.

Just disgusting.

Chronic Snoozer

13th Sep 2023, 08:28

Cheer up V-Jet, it's not all bad. At least the pollies and judges will be able to read the AFR again.A new era has dawned at Qantas.

Sure, the company has still not properly apologised to the 1700 ground workers it illegally sacked, it hasn’t bought new planes, clawed back Alan Joyce’s bonuses, returned COVID-era taxpayer support or ceased to furiously lobby the nation’s politicians. But it has, at least, reopened negotiations with the Transport Workers Union, and restored The Australian Financial Review to its rightful place.

Passengers through Qantas’ hallowed Chairman’s Lounge this week have reported seeing copies of the nation’s preeminent business title on display, while economy-class enthusiasts have been able to access it on the Qantas Wi-Fi. New chief Vanessa Hudson, we have since confirmed, has ended the former CEO’s boycott of this newspaper, which is once more available to Qantas passengers digitally and in corporal form.

The Australian Financial Review is no longer under Qantas boycott. Dominic Lorrimer

Earlier this year, Joyce and his chairman Richard Goyder complained about scathing commentary by Joe Aston in this column to the Financial Review’s senior editors. When that didn’t work, the airline “rationalised (https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/the-financial-review-has-disappeared-from-qantas-lounges-20230507-p5d6dw)” the number of newspapers on offer to its customers.

Through it all, this newspaper continued to publish commentary that was critical of Qantas, and still does. Yet, with Joyce gone, the company’s never-official Financial Review ban has been overturned, seemingly restoring us, as far as Qantas is concerned, to (nearly) staid respectability. Hallelujah.

Not even our competitors (https://www.afr.com/companies/media-and-marketing/corporate-cancel-culture-news-corp-boss-slams-qantas-ban-on-afr-20230509-p5d6yx) believed that excuse. Some of our readers even took to bringing in and leaving physical copies of this newspaper in Qantas lounges: part protest, part gift to fellow weary travellers. We’ve never felt so illicit.

Through it all, this newspaper continued to publish commentary that was critical of Qantas, and still does. Yet, with Joyce gone, the company’s never-official Financial Review ban has been overturned, seemingly restoring us, as far as Qantas is concerned, to (nearly) staid respectability. Hallelujah.

https://www.afr.com/rear-window/qantas-ends-afr-boycott-20230913-p5e4e9

V-Jet

13th Sep 2023, 08:33

Thank Christ for that! I can read the Fin on board.

I’d thought the place was rooned!!

DirectAnywhere

13th Sep 2023, 09:22

Joyce and Goyder should both be stripped of their honours. That would actually hurt them - their egos might finally cop a bruising.

The termination should read, “The rest of Australia has finally woken up to what a bunch of arseholes you are. Sorry, we should have listened to your staff sooner.”.

There would be adequate grounds under section 4(4) of the Terminations and Cancellations Ordinance to undertake such action namely, “if, in the opinion of the Governor General, the holder of the appointment or award has behaved or acted in a manner that has brought disrepute on the Order.”

Would be good to see the unions start a petition to the government to approach the GG to have action taken in this regard.

Lead Balloon

13th Sep 2023, 09:32

Yes: It will be interesting to see whether the Labor government will revoke AJ's AC.

dragon man

13th Sep 2023, 09:49

THIRD WORLD STUFF, YOU COULDN’T MAKE THIS UP.
Senior public servants responsible for regulating Qantas accepted Chairman’s Lounge invitationsBy Maani Truu (https://www.abc.net.au/news/maani-truu/100273642)
Posted 2h ago2 hours ago, updated 2h ago2 hours agohttps://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/84dc4a60d657192974478aed0f28dc6b?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2813&cropW=5000&xPos=0&yPos=203&width=862&height=485Qantas' Chairman’s Lounge has come under scrutiny in recent weeks.(AAP: Joel Carrett)Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this article
Link copied
COPY LINKSHARESenior public servants from the watchdogs regulating Qantas' consumer relations and aviation safety have accepted complimentary membership to the airline's exclusive Chairman's Lounge, despite their role in regulating the national carrier.

Five of the seven commissioners of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) are members of the invite-only Chairman's Lounge, where alcohol, restaurant-quality meals, and luxurious facilities are available free of charge (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/inside-the-secretive-qantas-chairmans-lounge/102820726).

The agency recently launched legal action against the airline (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-31/qantas-sued-by-accc-for-selling-tickets-to-cancelled-flights/102797592) for allegedly selling tickets to already cancelled flights.
Inside the secretive Qantas Chairman’s Lounge (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/inside-the-secretive-qantas-chairmans-lounge/102820726)It’s tucked away in six of Australia’s airports, well hidden from the average traveller. Inside, some of Australia’s most powerful enjoy five-star food and wine as they await their flights. But when you ask about the Chairman’s Lounge, Qantas has no comment. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/inside-the-secretive-qantas-chairmans-lounge/102820726)

https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/3f615fede16969fde59aa52adcbdd686?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=1817&cropW=3230&xPos=54&yPos=189&width=862&height=485 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/inside-the-secretive-qantas-chairmans-lounge/102820726)
Read more (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-10/inside-the-secretive-qantas-chairmans-lounge/102820726)Three current board members and three senior executives of the Civil Aviation and Safety Authority (CASA), the government body responsible for regulating aviation safety, are also members.

Qantas has come under intense scrutiny in recent weeks, following the ACCC investigation and questions over its influence on the government's decision to deny Qatar Airway's bid for additional flights to Australian airports (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-08/qatar-airways-flight-decision-unfolded-qantas-government/102825330).

The Chairman's Lounge — described as the most "exclusive club in the country" and frequented by current and former politicians, corporate heavyweights and celebrities — has been at the centre of the debate after it was revealed that Anthony Albanese's adult son was granted membership.

Federal parliamentarians and their spouses are automatically invited to join, but the privilege is typically not extended to other family members.

Qantas has repeatedly refused to divulge details of the lounge, its membership, or the eligibility process. "I'm afraid we don't comment on the Chairman's Lounge," a spokesperson said.
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/b100df4a3773b6ad6ac2c96fb2c2fa3c?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=3332&cropW=4998&xPos=1&yPos=0&width=862&height=575Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is a member of Qantas' Chairman's Lounge, and last month it was revealed that his adult son had also been granted access. (AAP: Dean Lewins)Regulators involved in Qantas mattersFour of the five ACCC commissioners who are Chairman's Lounge members were invited to join after commencing their roles with the agency, while one commissioner's membership predates their involvement with the ACCC, a spokesperson said.

Those commissioners have been involved in making decisions relating to Qantas' conduct, including in the recent investigation into the alleged sale of already cancelled flights. The agency alleges that Qantas advertised tickets to more than 8,000 cancelled flights between May and June last year, which they say amounted to false, misleading or deceptive conduct.

"Decisions by the Commission are made collectively, impartially and on their merits," the spokesperson said.

"The ACCC Commissioner’s gifts and hospitality register has disclosed for some time that some commissioners were provided with access to the Chairman’s Lounge."
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/43e492ebb042e1404ee292ad46a67a3d?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=2601&cropW=4624&xPos=0&yPos=241&width=862&height=485Former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce departed the airline two months ahead of schedule. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)A CASA spokesperson confirmed that six people across the organisation's board and senior executive have been gifted membership to the Qantas Chairman's Lounge and/or the Virgin Beyond Lounges.

"The total is made up of CASA's CEO (who is a senior executive and board member but is counted only once), a further three current CASA board members and two current senior executives," they said. "Some of these memberships have carried over from previous roles."

The ABC is not suggesting that members of the Chairman's Lounge have engaged in any wrongdoing, only that it reveals the reach of Qantas’s free club membership in the public service and could contribute to the perception of conflicts of interest.

A Fair Work Commission spokesperson did not confirm whether any of their representatives were Chairman's Lounge members, stating: "Any such memberships are a matter between the airline and the member personally."

The Australian Public Service Commission (https://www.apsc.gov.au/working-aps/integrity/integrity-resources/guidance-agency-heads-gifts-and-benefits) requires agency heads to publicly disclose any gifts or benefits valued at more than $100 received by organisation staff in the performance of their duties. The Fair Work Commission's register does not list any gifts or benefits since 2019.

"Fair Work Commission Members are independent statutory appointments and not APS employees. Accordingly, the Australian Public Services Commissioner's directions on the disclosure of gifts and benefits only applies to commission staff, not Members," the Commission spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman confirmed that neither the Ombudsman Anna Booth nor the deputy ombudsmen are members.
High Court judges also membersAll seven sitting High Court judges have also accepted invitations to the club, the court confirmed this week, before handing down a decision in a long-running case between Qantas and the Transport Workers Union over the sacking of 1,700 ground staff during the pandemic (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-09/high-court-hear-qantas-and-transport-workers-union-battle/102317516).
High Court finds Qantas acted illegally when sacking 1,700 ground crew (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684)Qantas took a long-running battle with the Transport Workers' Union over sacked staff to the High Court. (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684)

https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/99f72226444f091e8c3b3ff555ef6a14?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=911&cropW=1620&xPos=0&yPos=16&width=862&height=485 (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684)
Read more (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684)The court unanimously dismissed Qantas' appeal (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-13/high-court-rules-in-qantas-twu-battle-over-ground-crew-staff/102848684) on Wednesday, after the Federal Court previously found the decision to outsource the jobs of baggage handlers and cleaners breached the law. Qantas has maintained the decision was made for sound commercial reasons.

A High Court spokesperson said the fact that judges were members of the Chairman's Lounge was disclosed to parties prior to the hearing of the Qantas matter and no objection was raised.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine told RN Breakfast on Wednesday that he did not see the judges' Chairman's Lounge membership as an issue. "We don't think it's rational to take the position that the High Court judges, literally the judges that are the most astute legal minds in our community, would be influenced by membership of the Chairman's Lounge in any decision," he said.

The chief executive officer and principal registrar of the Federal Court and the president of the National Native Title Tribunal have also previously disclosed their membership to the lounge, according to the Federal Court's gifts and benefits register.
Inside the loungesThere are six Chairman's Lounges across the country, tucked away behind unmarked doors in the domestic airports of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.

Members are permitted to bring a guest when travelling with them, and there is no fee for joining. Membership lasts for two years, at the end of which it is either renewed or revoked at Qantas' discretion.
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/469c575288f70e5fc5806762fa024866?impolicy=wcms_crop_resize&cropH=1995&cropW=2992&xPos=0&yPos=1047&width=862&height=575Inside the Sydney Chairman's Lounge.(Supplied)Inside the lounge, an a la carte menu, buffet, and open bar are available round the clock. Members are also able to make use of luxury showers and meeting rooms, while staff provide personalised notifications about boarding times and flight changes.

"The thing that always struck me the most is that you were always waited on hand and foot by really attentive hospitality staff," a regular guest to the lounge told ABC News.

Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, and Greens' leader Adam Bandt are all Chairman's Lounge members, as well as a long list of politicians from both sides of the aisle.

Earlier this week, Nine Newspapers published a survey (https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/politician-qantas-lounge-freebies-earn-the-ire-of-voters-20230911-p5e3m4.html) that reportedly found 70 per cent of voters believed it was unacceptable for political leaders to accept free membership to exclusive clubs like the Chairman's Lounge

dragon man

13th Sep 2023, 10:01

So, in the last 2 weeks (in fact its been a long road to get here, but only has it been acknowledged in the last 2 weeks) Qantas' management have exposed the company to potentially in excess of 1B dollars in fines and compensation, and that doesn't even begin the put a figure on the cost of the brand damage. Well done dickheads.

This train wreck has been going on for years, the front line staff knew it but no one listened and then the Swiss cheese model came out and the holes all lined up. It couldn’t have happened to a greater bunch of …..

swingswong

13th Sep 2023, 10:08

What pisses me off SO MUCH - is that Qantas WAS Australian. You gave your all for it like you were in the trenches. Because you represented Australia every single time you put your uniform on….

…A post script to this. I’m very right wing. VERY. But what staff have witnessed is destruction of everything they held (and were taught to hold) dear. Anyone reading this needs to know the start of ‘Union troubles’ at Qf were a result of cost cutting WAY beyond the pale. Cost cutting to the point of rape is where I saw valuable staff simply give up and accept that everyone at the company was into getting as much money out them as you could.

Just disgusting.

Mate this is the product of ‘don’t hamper businesses with red tape’ and ‘don’t let unions dictate etc etc’ and ‘the market will dictate ..’ and ‘wah wah over regulation’ and ‘corruption watchdog witch hunt…’

V-Jet

13th Sep 2023, 11:46

Mate this is the product of ‘don’t hamper businesses with red tape’ and ‘don’t let unions dictate etc etc’ and ‘the market will dictate ..’ and ‘wah wah over regulation’ and ‘corruption watchdog witch hunt…’

Disagree. This is a TOTAL loss of any moral compass.

Hydson Fysh would be spinning in his grave so fast he’d be catching fire over this.

Traffic_Is_Er_Was

13th Sep 2023, 11:56

Inside the Sydney Chairman's Lounge.
Christ, is that what it really looks like? Are there any pictures taken later than the seventies?

JustinHeywood

13th Sep 2023, 12:01

Mate this is the product of ‘don’t hamper businesses with red tape’ and ‘don’t let unions dictate etc etc’ and ‘the market will dictate ..’ and ‘wah wah over regulation’ and ‘corruption watchdog witch hunt…’

Well, no. You will always get people like Joyce in any society. The people who are supposed to protect society from unbridled greed failed to do their job. The entire political class and regulating bodies did nothing until they could see the gravy train was coming off the rails.

Australia is not a particularly corrupt country, relatively speaking. But we surely are the most complacent

Thumb War

13th Sep 2023, 13:03

Like everyone else I’m happy to see the back of Joyce and Qantas start to be held accountable.

I just hope there is a change of direction, that Qantas manages to weather the storm and come out the other side as a company that the staff & customers can get behind.

My concern is that the staff will be the ones who bear the brunt of all this “we can’t afford pay increases after the fines” etc etc or that the company will find itself in dire straits rather soon.

Hopefully Vanessa or her very quick successor will turn the ship around.

Mr Mossberg

13th Sep 2023, 21:17

Australia is not a particularly corrupt country, relatively speaking.

Open your eyes. Because it's not the type of corruption you're talking about doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Australia is about as corrupt as it gets, it's been that way since 1788.

KRviator

13th Sep 2023, 21:47

Christ, is that what it really looks like? Are there any pictures taken later than the seventies?Apart from the meal service you'd get, I'd take the Fiji Airways lounge in Nadi over that Qantas lounge any day of the week. Even the staff in Fiji were top notch.

blubak

13th Sep 2023, 22:43

Lead Balloon

13th Sep 2023, 22:51

As Joe Aston said:Sitting in Vanessa Hudson’s in-tray [is] the world’s largest, overflowing sick bag.

SIUYA

13th Sep 2023, 23:06

Thumb War said:

I just hope there is a change of direction, that Qantas manages to weather the storm and come out the other side as a company that the staff & customers can get behind.

I don't think that's going to happen until the present discredited, ineffective and incompetent leadership at QF is replaced with effective, ethical, and transparent decision makers.

DirectAnywhere

14th Sep 2023, 00:30

Thumb War said:

I don't think that's going to happen until the present discredited, ineffective and incompetent leadership at QF is replaced with effective, ethical, and transparent decision makers.

Good luck trying to find such a leader in today’s corporate Australia.

The disconnect between executive level management and the reality of their worth has never been greater.

dr dre

14th Sep 2023, 02:35

The disconnect between executive level management and the reality of their worth has never been greater.

Here’s the comments (https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/13/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tweet-tim-gurner-property-developer) of Australian property developer Tim Gurner (wealth approx $9.5 billion) at an event the other day:

“We need to see pain in the economy”.

“We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around,”

“There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around. So it’s a dynamic that has to change. We’ve got to kill that attitude and that has to come through hurting the economy.

“We need to see unemployment rise, unemployment has to jump 40, 50 per cent.”

walesregent

14th Sep 2023, 02:40

Here’s the comments (https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/13/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tweet-tim-gurner-property-developer) of Australian property developer Tim Gurner (wealth approx $9.5 billion) at an event the other day:

“We need to see pain in the economy”.

“We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around,”

“There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around. So it’s a dynamic that has to change. We’ve got to kill that attitude and that has to come through hurting the economy.

“We need to see unemployment rise, unemployment has to jump 40, 50 per cent.”

Replace the word ‘employee’ with the word ‘serf’ and you get a better idea of his true agenda.

BuzzBox

14th Sep 2023, 02:43

There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them as opposed to the other way around.

If "people decided they didn’t really want to work so much" since the pandemic, it's because they've had enough of being treated like sh!t by scumbag employers, many of whom took advantage of the downturn to force through workplace changes that would never have been acceptable under normal circumstances. There's more to life than working for such assholes and people like Gurner need to understand that simple fact.

walesregent

14th Sep 2023, 02:46

If "people decided they didn’t really want to work so much" since the pandemic, it's because they've had enough of being treated like sh!t by scumbag employers, many of whom took advantage of the downturn to force through workplace changes that would never have been acceptable under normal circumstances. There's more to life than working for such assholes and people like Gurner need to understand that simple fact.

They also realised the shortcomings of living in mass produced hovels without windows in bedrooms, so I guess he’s getting a double nut punch.

Chronic Snoozer

14th Sep 2023, 02:48

Here’s the comments (https://amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/13/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-tweet-tim-gurner-property-developer) of Australian property developer Tim Gurner (wealth approx $9.5 billion) at an event the other day:"

He is apparently worth less than a billion. He sounds like such a people person.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/tim-gurner-billionaire-property-developer-says-unemployment-must-jump-to-increase-productivity/35b8cfd1-2a85-49e8-a4f8-d5f45cb2adcf

https://www.afr.com/young-rich

Gurner Group's website puts the worth of its development and management portfolio at over $9.5 billion.

dr dre

14th Sep 2023, 02:50

He is apparently worth less than a billion. He sounds like such a people person.

https://www.9news.com.au/national/tim-gurner-billionaire-property-developer-says-unemployment-must-jump-to-increase-productivity/35b8cfd1-2a85-49e8-a4f8-d5f45cb2adcf

https://www.afr.com/young-rich

Gurner Group's website puts the worth of its development and management portfolio at over $9.5 billion.

Sorry, you’re right. The property developer’s personal wealth is only $900 million. Poor guy. He’s only the 154th richest person in the country. Poor guy. He must really be on struggle street. /s

Chronic Snoozer

14th Sep 2023, 03:19

Sorry, you’re right. The property developer’s personal wealth is only $900 million. Poor guy. He’s only the 154th richest person in the country. Poor guy. He must really be on struggle street. /s

Yes, apparently has empathy issues too. Sounds familiar.

SOPS

14th Sep 2023, 03:31

Sounds like a top quality individual.

neville_nobody

14th Sep 2023, 05:17

He’s only saying that because he hires from the bottom end of the labour pool in terms of education and generally speaking you can’t bring in foreign labour at that level. Trades are all qualified and his unskilled grunt labour are probably thin in the ground with low unemployment. If he had to employ a 1000 people with post graduate science degrees he’s not going to care to much about the unemployment rate but bemoaning how he can’t import cheap labour from India due to “restrictive government policy”

Clare Prop

14th Sep 2023, 05:57

Well, no. You will always get people like Joyce in any society. The people who are supposed to protect society from unbridled greed failed to do their job. The entire political class and regulating bodies did nothing until they could see the gravy train was coming off the rails.

All begun by Keating privatising Qantas and the airports, unbridled greed was inevitable and it was all too easy for people like Joyce, plus Albanese was the one who, as Transport Minister, approved turning the airports into concrete jungles to make the leaseholders very rich and making things very difficult for the sub tenants. Keating has a lot to answer for.
.
Maybe there is a case for renationalising them.

gordonfvckingramsay

14th Sep 2023, 11:43

Sydney chairman’s lounge looks like the set from SALE OF THE CENTURY!

glekichi

14th Sep 2023, 13:00

plus Albanese was the one who, as Transport Minister, approved turning the airports into concrete jungles to make the leaseholders very rich and making things very difficult for the sub tenants.

Dont forget about personally seeing to it that we cannot jumpseat on carriers other than the one we work for. Thanks Albo.

Octane

14th Sep 2023, 15:58

I wonder if he's a member of the Chairmans Lounge?:yuk:

romeocharlie

15th Sep 2023, 20:42

Sydney chairman’s lounge looks like the set from SALE OF THE CENTURY!

Probably catering to the majority of members in Tony Barber's age bracket.

dragon man

16th Sep 2023, 00:18

Qantas board and executives salaries revealed as airline suffersThe eye-watering pay packets of more than a dozen high-powered individuals running Australia’s embattled national carrier have been revealed.
Ben Butler (https://archive.md/o/nFpGF/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/ben-butler) and Stephen Drill (https://archive.md/o/nFpGF/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/stephen-drill)3 min read
September 16, 2023 - 5:00AMNews Corp Australia Network

Qantas’ loss in the High Court is “another blow” to the airline’s public standing and especially its relationship with its workers, according to Sky News host Chris Kenny. Qantas apologised after the High Court found it illegally sacked 1,700 staff during the Covid pandemic.

Qantas executives and board members have been on a gravy plane pocketing $49.5 million in the past fiveyears as the airline nosedives.
The carrier once advertised as the “spirit of Australia” has been in damage control, with Qantas battling a $600 million lawsuit over ghost flights, an embarrassing High Court ruling that it illegally sacked workers and widespread customer anger at overpriced fares.
Qantas has had a troubled few years during and after the pandemic. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye GerardDespite the crisis, those at the top of the airline have been raking it in.
Among the bigger earners are chief executive of Qantas domestic Andrew David ($12.8 million since 2017), Loyalty chief executive Olivia Wirth ($7.5 million), and chairman Richard Goyder ($2.5 million).
It comes as a News Corp investigation revealed new Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson will receive cash of about $5.3m if she retires after hanging on for just three years in the top job.
Ms Hudson, who has replaced Alan Joyce, does not need to earn a bonus in order to receive the retirement jackpot, which she is entitled to as a member of a lucrative defined benefit scheme that has been closed to new Qantas employees since April Fools’ Day in 1995.
Qantas declined to comment on Ms Hudson’s retirement scheme.Qantas also needs to spend $15bn on new planes to update its fleet.The board, led by Mr Goyder, faced calls to resign this week after the High Court ruling that the airline illegally sacked 1700 ground staff during Covid.
On Friday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission hit Qantas again, saying it plans to cancel permission for the airline to co-ordinate flights between Sydney and Shanghai with rival China Eastern.
Qantas also needs to spend $15bn on new planes to update its elderly fleet.
It makes for an interesting shareholders meeting in November, at which point those steering the Qantas plane and their salaries will be under intense scrutiny.
Here’s what the key company players earnIN THE COCKPITVANESSA HUDSON, NEW CEO, FORMERLY CFO
Pay since becoming CFO in 2019: $4,575,000
New CEO pay: $1.6m a year base plus a cash bonus of up to $2.56m a year and the same again in shares for a maximum of $6.72m.
A 29-year Qantas lifer whose previous jobs include chief customer officer as well as sales and planning.
ANDREW DAVID, CEO QANTAS DOMESTIC
Pay since 2017: $12,826,000
Has held a number of executive gigs over a decade at Qantas. Responsible for the illegal sacking of 1700 workers during the pandemic.https://archive.md/nFpGF/4154d16623219704ea68923ee40a14227eb43f44.jpgQantas Domestic Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Andrew David.https://archive.md/nFpGF/57b2ba2be891ab9eb97514f38361d7b8aec4e798.jpgQantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth in 2019.OLIVIA WIRTH, CEO LOYALTY
Pay since becoming CEO loyalty in 2018: $7,566,000
Has done 14 years at the airline. Best known for running corporate affairs.
ROB MARCOLINA, CFO
Appointed CFO in September. Former Bain consultant who started at Qantas in 2012.https://archive.md/nFpGF/bba1fb47951844ea23ff09aea17c18e3753236f5.webpRob Marcolina, CFO Appointed CFO in September. The former Bain consultant who started at Qantas in 2012. SuppliedCAM WALLACE, CEO QANTAS INTERNATIONAL AND FREIGHT
Started in June. Former Air New Zealand executive with a media and advertising background.https://archive.md/nFpGF/d58f7a22294b454454d1ca255806ed07cb8aeca3.jpgQantas' international boss Cam Wallace.STEPHANIE TULLY, CEO JETSTAR
Replaced Evans late last year. A 20-year Qantas veteran whose last job was chief customer officer.https://archive.md/nFpGF/10c0f1b9ac393a8ddc45eb0cffd7e96f864a102d.jpgLow-cost carrier Jetstar Group’s CEO is Stephanie Tully. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Tertius PickardFREQUENT FLYERShttps://archive.md/nFpGF/c18b68b8e1ccedfa14757329f6e0aab94e1b8428.jpgQantas Group Chairman Richard Goyder, CEO at Qantas’ HQ in Sydney. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye GerardRICHARD GOYDER, 63
Chairman since 2018, joined the board in 2017
Pay since joining the board: $2,481,000
High-flying WA businessman who previously ran billionaire Kerry Stokes’ Wesfarmers empire, where he was paid $90m between 2005 and 2017. Chairman of the AFL Commission, director of Woodside, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and drug and alcohol services charity Palmerston Foundation. Owns a 1200ha farm in WA, a $10m palace in Perth a stone’s throw from the Swan River and a $10.43m Melbourne bolthole in fashionable South Yarra.https://archive.md/nFpGF/44e4ebecb62a9e32c7bf5ba357131df78142658e.webpMaxine Brenner, Independent Non-Executive Director on the Qantas Board of Directors. Pic Supplied.MAXINE BRENNER, 61
Director since 2013
Pay since 2017: $1,716,000
Former corporate lawyer at top firm Freehills whose other roles include a stint at NSW Treasury. https://archive.md/nFpGF/5a7ae77b46995d7095d0aa51f32657eae7d662e7.jpgJacqueline Hey Bendigo Bank chairwoman and former director of Cricket Australia.JACQUELINE HEY, 57
Director since 2013
Pay since 2017: $1,278,000
Former Ericsson exec. Bendigo Bank chair and former director of Cricket Australia and energy company AGL.https://archive.md/nFpGF/112fc463eddc898ead82b72a2f8760b9240855af.jpgBelinda Hutchinson, chancellor of the University of Sydney and non-exec director of Qantas, at the Australian Governance Summit. Jane Dempster/The Australian.BELINDA HUTCHINSON, 69
Director since 2018
Pay since joining the board: $1,079,000
Formerly of millionaires’ factory Macquarie Group. Chancellor of the University of Sydney and chair of the Australian arm of French defence contractor Thales. https://archive.md/nFpGF/54f6a04f9b4a78dbe715fb83fc1cb3dee8183720.webpMichael L’Estrange. A former secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade who joined the Qantas board in 2016. SuppliedMICHAEL L’ESTRANGE, 69
Director since 2016
Pay since 2017: $1,282,000
Former DFAT secretary. Stepped down from Rio Tinto board in 2021 following the Juukan Gorge disaster. Retiring from Qantas board after the AGM in November.https://archive.md/nFpGF/efb4ff5f080e463151d00e608686965c80046e57.jpgTodd Sampson is known for his media appearances.TODD SAMPSON, 53
Director since 2015
Pay since 2017: $1,506,000
Is on TV a lot. Wears t shirts and is the youngest member of the board. Former advertising exec.
ANTONY TYLER, 67
Director since 2018
Pay since joining board: $896,000
Airline exec who spent 30 years at Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific. Sits on boards of Canadian jet maker Bombardier, aircraft leasing company BOC Aviation and seaplane operator Trans Maldivian Airways.https://archive.md/nFpGF/d8d51a439740359d5d25539444411e81d54c726f.webpDr Heather Smith Secretary of the Department of Industry, Innovation and Sciencehttps://archive.md/nFpGF/cf868330cd572f47273f143fea4ca5cdca178fc6.webpAntony Tyler, Independent Non-Executive Director on the Qantas Board of Directors.Heather Smith, 58
New director, to be voted on by shareholders at the November AGM. Former Reserve Bank economist and public servant who sits on the boards of the ASX and Challenger.https://archive.md/nFpGF/39c715b189dc2ae600a5573e72261f5aed8f9ed5.jpgFormer CEO of American Airlines Doug Parker will be voter on by shareholders to become a new Qantas director.Doug Parker, 62
New director, to be voted on by shareholders at the November AGM. Chairman of American Airlines and its former CEO. Once did a day in jail after being busted for drink driving for the third time

dragon man

16th Sep 2023, 00:30

You couldn’t make this up, they know no shame.

Business (https://archive.md/o/1dfHJ/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business)
Companies (https://archive.md/o/1dfHJ/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/companies)

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson to earn $5.3m if she stays in her role at airline for three yearsVanessa Hudson will receive a retirement jackpot of $5.3m in her top job, more than eight times the $690,000 that experts estimate the average Australian worker needs.
Ben Butler (https://archive.md/o/1dfHJ/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/ben-butler) and Stephen Drill (https://archive.md/o/1dfHJ/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/stephen-drill)3 min read
September 16, 2023 - 5:00AMNews Corp Australia Network
https://archive.md/1dfHJ/741166605046a020742c52f4c5e65662f8f872e1.webp
Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie says the High Court ruling against Qantas showed that the airline had treated their workers reprehensible. Ms McKenzie’s comments come as the national carrier lost its final appeal in the High Court for a decision to illegally outsource 1,700 workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. “The High Court’s ruling shows that their behaviour has been reprehensible and reckless,” she told Sky News host Sharri Markson. “I think the decision lies fairly and squarely at the feet of former CEO Alan Joyce and obviously the board. “Qantas has done the wrong thing here, it's breached the Fair Work Act, and I think it needs to be supporting its former employees.”

New Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson will receive cash of about $5.3m if she retires after hanging on for just three years in the top job.
Ms Hudson does not need to earn a bonus in order to receive the retirement jackpot, which she is entitled to as a member of a lucrative defined benefit scheme that has been closed to new Qantas employees since April Fools' Day in 1995.https://archive.md/1dfHJ/a5a42d0b8e825528dee672c887984b851392a11e.jpgQantas CEO Vanessa Hudson will receive millions in a payout if she stays at the helm for three years. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian GillesThe payout, which will increase with every extra year of service, is more than eight times the $690,000 that experts estimate the average Australian worker needs to have socked away in super before retiring at age 67.
Ms Hudson, who is 53 and has been at Qantas for 29 years, is among executives and board members on a gravy plane that has cost the airline $49.5m over the past five years and who are now confronted with a company mired in chaos following the early exit of Alan Joyce as CEO last week.
Qantas declined to comment on Ms Hudson’s gold-plated retirement scheme.
The board, led by chairman Richard Goyder, faced calls to resign this week after the High Court dealt Qantas a fresh blow by unanimously upholding earlier rulings that the airline illegally sacked 1700 ground staff during Covid.
It added a compensation bill estimated at about $200m to a long list of costly problems left behind by Joyce.
The airline will have to refund $570m in Covid-era flight credits and was facing legal action from the consumer regulator alleging it sold tickets to cancelled flights that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
On Friday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission hit Qantas again, saying it plans to cancel permission for the airline to co-ordinate flights between Sydney and Shanghai with rival China Eastern.https://archive.md/1dfHJ/f33d33272f58fae846f4f7f55531cebc4e857a0d.jpgThen Qantas Group Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce (L) and Chief Financial Officer and CEO designate Vanessa Hudson both worked for the airline for decades. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Christian GillesQantas also needs to spend $15bn on new planes to update its elderly fleet.
Transport Workers Union boss Michael Kaine, who led the legal challenge to the sackings, called for the entire Qantas board to be sacked.
Speaking after the High Court handed down its unanimous ruling on Wednesday, he said Qantas had been “a spiteful corporate dictatorship and the board has been right behind Alan Joyce in that spite every step of the way”.
Independent Federal MP for Tasmania Andrew Wilkie said Mr Goyder, who also chairs the AFL commission and oil and gas company Woodside Energy, was wearing too many hats.
“It’s entirely reasonable for the community to be asking if Mr Goyder is spread too thin, especially when you consider the problems in Qantas and the AFL,” Mr Wilkie said.
“How any one person can effectively lead the board, set the strategic direction and monitor the business activities of both of these behemoths, in addition to Woodside and other ventures, genuinely escapes me.”
Mr Goyder was approached for comment.
This article contains features which are only available in the web versionTake me there (https://archive.md/o/1dfHJ/https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/business/companies/qantas-ceo-vanessa-hudson-to-earn-53m-if-she-stays-in-her-role-at-airline-for-three-years/news-story/9a2617fbb9c7eb52ce9ed4e2bf49f4f3)
As the airline battled ongoing problems with cancellations, it can also be revealed that Qantas has two A380 aircraft out of service because they are waiting for maintenance work offshore, according to the airline’s engineers union.
Head of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association Steve Purvinas wrote a letter to Mr Goyder this week, demanding he resign over his decision to hire the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to help the airline.
“The situation is so bad that Qantas employees are being abused on the street for simply wearing a Qantas uniform,” he wrote in a letter seen by this masthead.
“If Qantas is determined to fix problems and deliver consistency, you cannot engage BCG or other similar consultants. These bean counters are the problem. https://archive.md/1dfHJ/7def03fac488f248a0b438f7d05cecc1e6b9829d.jpgQantas has been battling a range of woes since the pandemic. NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard“Instead, you need to talk to staff.”Mr Purvinas said BCG staff did not have the expertise to advise the airline, when staff knew how to turn the company around.
“Qantas’ direction must change. If the Qantas board of directors do not understand the problem, there must be board room change,” he wrote in the letter, which was sent via email with Ms Hudson copied in.
“If Qantas engages Boston Consulting Group, we call on you to resign your position as Qantas Chairman without delay.”
Investors who have seen the Qantas share price tumble 12 per cent in a month also poured pressure on the board and management following the High Court decision.
Louise Davidson, the CEO of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which represents Qantas shareholders including Australia’s two biggest funds, AustralianSuper and Australian Retirement Trust, said the High Court decision “will further tarnish the company’s reputation”. https://archive.md/1dfHJ/eec5f9a4f744b6ee2e649936fc58cd896e1bce53.jpgThen Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson and Qantas Group Chairman Richard Goyder at the airline’s head quarters earlier this year. Picture: NCA Newswire / Gaye Gerard “Investors will be expecting the Qantas board to reflect upon the various performance issues emerging in their consideration of pay outcomes for Alan Joyce and other executives, as well as broader accountability issues,” she said.
It is not clear if Mr Goyder and other board members are aware of the consequences of Ms Hudson’s membership of the defined benefits scheme.
While Ms Hudson’s membership was disclosed in a footnote in last year’s Qantas annual report, details of the resulting multimillion-dollar liability were not provided to investors when the airline announced her pay package as CEO on May 5 this year