Joyce ‘retires’ early 👍
[img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]
Stephen Drill
@steveheraldsun
3 min read
October 11, 2023 - 6:09PMNews Corp Australia Network
It has been revealed Qantas chairman Richard Goyder will retire next year amid calls for his resignation. Mr Goyder will step aside before the airline’s annual general meeting in late-2024, which will involve a board renewal. The chairman had faced mounting pressure from shareholders to step down. This comes as Qantas has faced significant scrutiny over the blocking of extra Qatar Airways flights. Mr Goyder noted the “significant reputational and customer service issues” facing Qantas.Departing Qantas chairman Richard Goyder will earn almost $3000 a day for his “farewell tour” at the airline, as a chorus of union leaders demand he “leave today”.
Mr Goyder had been under a tsunami of pressure following a string of controversies at the airline before he announced his plan to quit as Qantas chairman, effective in late 2024.
The extended notice period outraged a group of Qantas unions, who called for the Perth-based powerbroker to resign immediately.
Transport Workers Union secretary Michael Kaine said Mr Goyder was “treating shareholders, workers and the general community with contempt”.
“If Qantas wants to reset, Richard Goyder needs to leave now,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Goyder has already collected $3.2 million from Qantas since he joined the board in 2017.
He earned $750,000 in the 2023 financial year, which works out as $2884 a day, excluding weekends.
His decision to leave comes after a horror period since the airline announced a $2.47 billion profit in August.
Qantas has been hit with a $600 million lawsuit from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for selling tickets on “ghost flights”.
The national carrier also had an embarrassing unanimous High Court ruling that found it had illegally sacked 1700 baggage handlers during the pandemic.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has announced he will retire – in late 2024. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin OllmanMr Goyder was also at the helm when the pay and bonuses of former chief executive Alan Joyce, who was in line to receive $21.4 million for his final year at Qantas, were decided.
Head of Qantas’ maintenance engineers’ union Steve Purvinas said Mr Goyder should “leave today.”
“His performance in the role does not warrant a 12-month farewell tour,” he said.
Mr Purvinas said Goyder was “out of touch with reality.”
Industry insiders described Mr Goyder’s long goodbye as failing “to read the room”.
Qantas announced wider changes to its board on Wednesday, with Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey both intending to stand down after 10 years at the company’s annual meeting on November 3.
Advertising guru Todd Sampson and Belinda Hutchinson, who is also chancellor at the University of Sydney, will ask for a board extension at the meeting.
Former American Airlines chair Doug Parker and Dr Heather Smith will be officially signed on as new board members in November.
New chief executive Vanessa Hudson will also join the board.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine speaks to media about the announcement of the early retirement of Qantas chairman Richard Goyder. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David GeraghtyChief executive of the Australian Shareholders’ Association Rachel Waterhouse had been calling for Mr Goyder to resign.
“We welcome the decision. The timeline has had mixed views from retail shareholders who want to hear from him at the annual meeting,” she said.
“Qantas needs a really good succession plan to restore trust in the airline for customers and shareholders.”
Federal Secretary of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia Teri O’Toole said Qantas needed to win back trust with customers and employees.
“Vanessa Hudson needs to put her stamp on Qantas and it would be difficult to do if the decision makers who supported Alan Joyce have any influence,” she said.
The pilots union had earlier this month called for Mr Goyder to resign.
Australian and International Pilots Association president, Captain Tony Lucas, said: “Obviously, we would prefer things to move more quickly, but we acknowledge that at least now we are heading in the right direction.”
Qantas has also been under fire over its lobbying to block Qatar Airways bid to add 28 weekly flights in Australia.
Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner has said that would reduce fares on a return flight to Europe by as much as $500.
Mr Goyder fronted a Senate inquiry in Canberra last week where he was asked to explain the airline’s failings.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, chair of the committee running the inquiry into the decision to block Qatar’s bid, said Qantas clearly needs to restore its reputation with its loyal customers, staff, shareholders and the Australian public.
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“Board and management renewal is critical to that. Recognition that change was needed is a good thing,” she said.
“Mr Goyder has had a very distinguished corporate career and I genuinely wish him well as he manages the leadership transition.”
Mr Goyder was contacted for comment.
Retiring Qantas chair Richard Goyder should ‘leave today’, say unions
The maintenance engineers’ union had some scathing comments for departing Qantas chairman Richard Goyder, who will earn almost $3000 a day for the remainder of his time at the airline.Stephen Drill@steveheraldsun
3 min read
October 11, 2023 - 6:09PMNews Corp Australia Network
It has been revealed Qantas chairman Richard Goyder will retire next year amid calls for his resignation. Mr Goyder will step aside before the airline’s annual general meeting in late-2024, which will involve a board renewal. The chairman had faced mounting pressure from shareholders to step down. This comes as Qantas has faced significant scrutiny over the blocking of extra Qatar Airways flights. Mr Goyder noted the “significant reputational and customer service issues” facing Qantas.Departing Qantas chairman Richard Goyder will earn almost $3000 a day for his “farewell tour” at the airline, as a chorus of union leaders demand he “leave today”.
Mr Goyder had been under a tsunami of pressure following a string of controversies at the airline before he announced his plan to quit as Qantas chairman, effective in late 2024.
The extended notice period outraged a group of Qantas unions, who called for the Perth-based powerbroker to resign immediately.
Transport Workers Union secretary Michael Kaine said Mr Goyder was “treating shareholders, workers and the general community with contempt”.
“If Qantas wants to reset, Richard Goyder needs to leave now,” he said on Wednesday.
Mr Goyder has already collected $3.2 million from Qantas since he joined the board in 2017.
He earned $750,000 in the 2023 financial year, which works out as $2884 a day, excluding weekends.
His decision to leave comes after a horror period since the airline announced a $2.47 billion profit in August.
Qantas has been hit with a $600 million lawsuit from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for selling tickets on “ghost flights”.
The national carrier also had an embarrassing unanimous High Court ruling that found it had illegally sacked 1700 baggage handlers during the pandemic.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has announced he will retire – in late 2024. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin OllmanMr Goyder was also at the helm when the pay and bonuses of former chief executive Alan Joyce, who was in line to receive $21.4 million for his final year at Qantas, were decided. Head of Qantas’ maintenance engineers’ union Steve Purvinas said Mr Goyder should “leave today.”
“His performance in the role does not warrant a 12-month farewell tour,” he said.
Mr Purvinas said Goyder was “out of touch with reality.”
Industry insiders described Mr Goyder’s long goodbye as failing “to read the room”.
Qantas announced wider changes to its board on Wednesday, with Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey both intending to stand down after 10 years at the company’s annual meeting on November 3.
Advertising guru Todd Sampson and Belinda Hutchinson, who is also chancellor at the University of Sydney, will ask for a board extension at the meeting.
Former American Airlines chair Doug Parker and Dr Heather Smith will be officially signed on as new board members in November.
New chief executive Vanessa Hudson will also join the board.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine speaks to media about the announcement of the early retirement of Qantas chairman Richard Goyder. Picture: NCA NewsWire / David GeraghtyChief executive of the Australian Shareholders’ Association Rachel Waterhouse had been calling for Mr Goyder to resign. “We welcome the decision. The timeline has had mixed views from retail shareholders who want to hear from him at the annual meeting,” she said.
“Qantas needs a really good succession plan to restore trust in the airline for customers and shareholders.”
Federal Secretary of the Flight Attendants Association of Australia Teri O’Toole said Qantas needed to win back trust with customers and employees.
“Vanessa Hudson needs to put her stamp on Qantas and it would be difficult to do if the decision makers who supported Alan Joyce have any influence,” she said.
The pilots union had earlier this month called for Mr Goyder to resign.
Australian and International Pilots Association president, Captain Tony Lucas, said: “Obviously, we would prefer things to move more quickly, but we acknowledge that at least now we are heading in the right direction.”
Qantas has also been under fire over its lobbying to block Qatar Airways bid to add 28 weekly flights in Australia.
Flight Centre chief executive Graham Turner has said that would reduce fares on a return flight to Europe by as much as $500.
Mr Goyder fronted a Senate inquiry in Canberra last week where he was asked to explain the airline’s failings.
Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, chair of the committee running the inquiry into the decision to block Qatar’s bid, said Qantas clearly needs to restore its reputation with its loyal customers, staff, shareholders and the Australian public.
More Coverage
Antibiotics spark legal investigation: Are you a victim?Real Housewife opens up about life-changing cancer battle“Board and management renewal is critical to that. Recognition that change was needed is a good thing,” she said.
“Mr Goyder has had a very distinguished corporate career and I genuinely wish him well as he manages the leadership transition.”
Mr Goyder was contacted for comment.
Rear Window 
Joe AstonColumnistOct 11, 2023 – 7.30pm
And the scales fell from Richard Goyder’s eyes.
This was a major shift from the Qantas chairman, to accept that he was part of the problem.
Six weeks ago, as the ACCC’s deceptive conduct lawsuit landed with a thud, Goyder denied that Qantas’ transgressions were serious enough to demand “knee-jerk reactions”. He was maintaining the delusion that Qantas’ problems were being blown out of proportion, having previously maintained the delusion that Qantas didn’t have any problems at all.
Five weeks ago, as Alan Joyce left the airline early, Goyder brought out his limited edition eau de parfum, Humility by Uncle Rich™, and insisted, “I think my role in [Qantas’ turnaround] is pretty important”.
Three weeks ago, Goyder reckoned, “people want me to continue to do the role, and I think I’m well suited to do it”, adding that “compared to almost any airline in the world, Qantas has done a pretty good job”. A spritz of moral relativism to complement the humility?
Two weeks ago, Goyder told the Senate he retained the confidence of “about 14 of [Qantas’] top 20 shareholders”. That confidence didn’t last long, if it was even construed correctly in the first place.
So, Goyder elected to take an excruciating route to the inevitable. His may have been a noble intention to repair the mess, but it always betrayed a failure to comprehend his own agency in the ugly decisions that caused it.
But he got there, he shifted, he went from microdosing reality to shooting it up. On Wednesday morning, he said: “OK, it’s over honey. Let’s just be civil and adult about this and do what’s right for the kids.”
Deluded Uncle Rich may have been the character he’s played in recent months, but that is not who Richard Goyder is. He’s been in denial, but he is not dumb, and he didn’t get here without some innate good judgment.
It takes a lot to accept that the problem is you, but it clearly dawned on Goyder that he could genuinely satisfy his desire to do the right thing. The real tell there is how quickly he cleaned out Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey and provided clear air for a high-quality board to be constructed around Goyder’s successor. Investors will love that, as they should.
All of these realisations were available to Goyder a month ago. He needn’t have lost acres of skin in the public flayings or a full week in back-to-back meetings being yelled at by Qantas shareholders.
He was clearly in shock. This doesn’t normally happen to people like him, to people whose trajectory has only ever been up. As we’ve said before, Goyder has spent his entire career not preparing for this moment.
Up there on the very, very tip of the corporate pyramid, it’s a feedback loop of unreality. There would’ve been almost no friction in Goyder’s life. Even planes would wait for him. As Qantas, AFL and Woodside chairman, it’s a world of no inconvenience and utter acquiescence.
Non-executive directors are also beholden to the quality of information that company management provides them. In so many cases, boards place their trust in executives who feed them bull****.
That is no excuse for directors not to go out and sense-check their information, and now that Goyder’s back with us in reality, it’s blindingly obvious that is the first thing he should have done. Let’s hope he finally kicks some of those no-hopers up the arse on his way out the door.
Goyder’s reluctance to accept his predetermined fate is also very easy to understand on a human level. He just didn’t want it to be true. Who would want to give up the chairmanship of Qantas? That is a trophy, and nobody gives up their trophies lightly. Accepting the marriage is over takes time because we had so many happy times together. This was so good for me! I loved this!
A hallmark of Goyder’s management style is to slow everything down, to shoehorn milestone events onto his own ponderous timeline. We’ve seen that in the CEO successions at Woodside, Qantas and the AFL, and even in renewal of the AFL Commission. It is supposedly a symptom of steady long-termism, but is incredibly one dimensional.
Slowing everything down at Qantas became untenable weeks ago, but Goyder was the last to realise it. Being long-term isn’t helpful in a crisis. A long-term plan to extinguish a wildfire will not save anyone from burning alive.
What will happen next is that a legion of carpetbaggers will turn up touting for the Qantas chair – indeed, for any spot on the Qantas board. A platoon of investment bankers will be pushing Goyder to install their spivvy mates who might later sling them mandates.
People will desperately want these jobs, and they will knock themselves out striving for the prize. Everyone might want to be Qantas chairman, but the person who wants it most or who lobbies hardest will not be the person shareholders need to do it.
This is actually where Goyder’s trademark approach, to slow things down and do them thoroughly, will play to shareholders’ advantage. He must get this right. Qantas is as complex as businesses get, and massive, top-down cultural change is needed in the organisation.
Goyder will consult widely because he won’t want to be Mike Wilkinsat AMP and appoint David Murray on a whim, or Lindsay Maxsted at Westpac appointing John McFarlane. No saviours here, please. We just need world class.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Goyder has ensured the Qantas AGM in three weeks will still be bad, but no longer a re-enactment of the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. Make no mistake, Todd Sampsonwill be carried out in a box. He is going down. But Belinda Hutchinsonmay now survive, and retail shareholders probably won’t storm the stage.
Now that Richard’s joined us in the land of the living, he’s got a ripping opportunity here to stage-manage this pantomime for comic effect, to remind Doreen and Barry from Toowoomba who the real Qantas villains are.
He should get Alan Joyce back to warm up the crowd and soak up a few crates of tomatoes. Jetstar’s Steph Tully can hand out the tattoo removal vouchers. PR man Andrew McGinnes makes the perfect usher, officiously wielding his flashlight, a “Kick Me” sign stapled to his back. And Andrew Finch (or Lord Dovegrey Airmiles-Haughtipants, as Kaz Cooke christened him on X) will be the 3-Minute Angel, offering shoulder massages or free hugs to the army of pensioners. It would be truly priceless to see Finch endure physical contact with an actual commoner.
If he gives us a show, well, Goyder will have earned his director’s fee after all.
Richard Goyder’s Qantas pantomime swansong
Richard Goyder has elected to take an excruciating route to the inevitable.Joe AstonColumnistOct 11, 2023 – 7.30pm
And the scales fell from Richard Goyder’s eyes.
This was a major shift from the Qantas chairman, to accept that he was part of the problem.
Six weeks ago, as the ACCC’s deceptive conduct lawsuit landed with a thud, Goyder denied that Qantas’ transgressions were serious enough to demand “knee-jerk reactions”. He was maintaining the delusion that Qantas’ problems were being blown out of proportion, having previously maintained the delusion that Qantas didn’t have any problems at all.
Five weeks ago, as Alan Joyce left the airline early, Goyder brought out his limited edition eau de parfum, Humility by Uncle Rich™, and insisted, “I think my role in [Qantas’ turnaround] is pretty important”.
Three weeks ago, Goyder reckoned, “people want me to continue to do the role, and I think I’m well suited to do it”, adding that “compared to almost any airline in the world, Qantas has done a pretty good job”. A spritz of moral relativism to complement the humility?
Two weeks ago, Goyder told the Senate he retained the confidence of “about 14 of [Qantas’] top 20 shareholders”. That confidence didn’t last long, if it was even construed correctly in the first place.
So, Goyder elected to take an excruciating route to the inevitable. His may have been a noble intention to repair the mess, but it always betrayed a failure to comprehend his own agency in the ugly decisions that caused it.
But he got there, he shifted, he went from microdosing reality to shooting it up. On Wednesday morning, he said: “OK, it’s over honey. Let’s just be civil and adult about this and do what’s right for the kids.”
Deluded Uncle Rich may have been the character he’s played in recent months, but that is not who Richard Goyder is. He’s been in denial, but he is not dumb, and he didn’t get here without some innate good judgment.
It takes a lot to accept that the problem is you, but it clearly dawned on Goyder that he could genuinely satisfy his desire to do the right thing. The real tell there is how quickly he cleaned out Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey and provided clear air for a high-quality board to be constructed around Goyder’s successor. Investors will love that, as they should.
All of these realisations were available to Goyder a month ago. He needn’t have lost acres of skin in the public flayings or a full week in back-to-back meetings being yelled at by Qantas shareholders.
He was clearly in shock. This doesn’t normally happen to people like him, to people whose trajectory has only ever been up. As we’ve said before, Goyder has spent his entire career not preparing for this moment.
Up there on the very, very tip of the corporate pyramid, it’s a feedback loop of unreality. There would’ve been almost no friction in Goyder’s life. Even planes would wait for him. As Qantas, AFL and Woodside chairman, it’s a world of no inconvenience and utter acquiescence.
Non-executive directors are also beholden to the quality of information that company management provides them. In so many cases, boards place their trust in executives who feed them bull****.
That is no excuse for directors not to go out and sense-check their information, and now that Goyder’s back with us in reality, it’s blindingly obvious that is the first thing he should have done. Let’s hope he finally kicks some of those no-hopers up the arse on his way out the door.
Goyder’s reluctance to accept his predetermined fate is also very easy to understand on a human level. He just didn’t want it to be true. Who would want to give up the chairmanship of Qantas? That is a trophy, and nobody gives up their trophies lightly. Accepting the marriage is over takes time because we had so many happy times together. This was so good for me! I loved this!
A hallmark of Goyder’s management style is to slow everything down, to shoehorn milestone events onto his own ponderous timeline. We’ve seen that in the CEO successions at Woodside, Qantas and the AFL, and even in renewal of the AFL Commission. It is supposedly a symptom of steady long-termism, but is incredibly one dimensional.
Slowing everything down at Qantas became untenable weeks ago, but Goyder was the last to realise it. Being long-term isn’t helpful in a crisis. A long-term plan to extinguish a wildfire will not save anyone from burning alive.
What will happen next is that a legion of carpetbaggers will turn up touting for the Qantas chair – indeed, for any spot on the Qantas board. A platoon of investment bankers will be pushing Goyder to install their spivvy mates who might later sling them mandates.
People will desperately want these jobs, and they will knock themselves out striving for the prize. Everyone might want to be Qantas chairman, but the person who wants it most or who lobbies hardest will not be the person shareholders need to do it.
This is actually where Goyder’s trademark approach, to slow things down and do them thoroughly, will play to shareholders’ advantage. He must get this right. Qantas is as complex as businesses get, and massive, top-down cultural change is needed in the organisation.
Goyder will consult widely because he won’t want to be Mike Wilkinsat AMP and appoint David Murray on a whim, or Lindsay Maxsted at Westpac appointing John McFarlane. No saviours here, please. We just need world class.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Goyder has ensured the Qantas AGM in three weeks will still be bad, but no longer a re-enactment of the Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. Make no mistake, Todd Sampsonwill be carried out in a box. He is going down. But Belinda Hutchinsonmay now survive, and retail shareholders probably won’t storm the stage.
Now that Richard’s joined us in the land of the living, he’s got a ripping opportunity here to stage-manage this pantomime for comic effect, to remind Doreen and Barry from Toowoomba who the real Qantas villains are.
He should get Alan Joyce back to warm up the crowd and soak up a few crates of tomatoes. Jetstar’s Steph Tully can hand out the tattoo removal vouchers. PR man Andrew McGinnes makes the perfect usher, officiously wielding his flashlight, a “Kick Me” sign stapled to his back. And Andrew Finch (or Lord Dovegrey Airmiles-Haughtipants, as Kaz Cooke christened him on X) will be the 3-Minute Angel, offering shoulder massages or free hugs to the army of pensioners. It would be truly priceless to see Finch endure physical contact with an actual commoner.
If he gives us a show, well, Goyder will have earned his director’s fee after all.
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From Crikey.
BERNARD KEANE AND GLENN DYER
Qantas’ announcement this morning that Richard Goyder and a couple of other directors would be moseying away from the smoking ruin that is the airline’s reputation over the course of the next year is another demonstration of how cluelessly out of touch this mob of jokers are.
It’s a revamp organised by those departing the board, not staying — another example of how Goyder and other directors, including new CEO Vanessa Hudson, have no grasp of being seen to do the right thing.
Read MoreQantas told the Australian Stock Exchange this morning that “chairman Richard Goyder will retire prior to the annual general meeting (AGM) in late 2024”. Before that, “to facilitate further renewal, Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire at the Qantas half-year results in February 2024 after 10 years of service”. Former Liberal staffer and public servant Michael L’Estrange is already bailing out.
New directors Doug Parker and Heather Smith — both recent appointees with clean hands around the Alan Joyce-era litany of debacles — will remain. But so will Todd Sampson, Antony Tyler and Belinda Hutchinson.
All three have been on the board for years — in Sampson’s case, since 2015. His purported marketing expertise hasn’t done anything to rescue Qantas from the greatest branding dumpster fire in Australian corporate history. Along with his fellow directors, he seems to have sat back and watched as Joyce and his management illegally sacked workers, engaged in anti-competitive conduct, flogged tickets for flights that didn’t exist and underpaid workers millions — never mind turning the once-beloved national carrier into a national joke.
That any Qantas director other than Parker and Smith is still there is a testament to a dearth of accountability at Qantas and the contempt the airline continues to harbour towards its workers and customers.
Goyder’s half-arsed retirement — in which he remains chair for another year despite presiding over every Qantas disaster over the past five years — is particularly insulting. The airline’s risible media release links the board turnover, such as it is, to “the significant reputational and customer service issues facing the group” and that it recognises “that accountability is required to restore trust”. But what accountability? Two directors who’ve been there a decade moving on (in 2024) and a chairman deciding he’ll wander off at a time of his own choosing, with no boardroom succession or renewal plan in place.
Read MoreAnd right at the end of the statement was the most interesting news of all — Qantas is going to have an inquiry into the Joyce era: “The board has also commenced a process of independently reviewing key governance matters over the past 12 months and will share outcomes in the second quarter of calendar year 2024.”
Notice the word choice. It’ll share the “outcomes”, not the report itself, which in any event will be an internal product, not an independent one. What price a proper, rigorous inquiry while one of the two main culprits in these “governance matters”, Goyder, is still chair? What betting that Joyce is the scapegoat?
And what about the big issue hanging over the board — how it’ll handle Joyce’s mammoth long-term bonus despite the opprobrium he’s brought on the company and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s shocking revelations of tickets for no service?
This is “accountability” Qantas style: an internal inquiry, a board makeover where a couple of those who directly oversaw the trashing of the company face the inconvenience of bringing forward their retirement dates a little, or having to promise they’ll leave at some point late the following year, while the rest stay in on the giggle.
And that applies to Hudson too. She has never explained what she knew about the no-service scandal as CFO, or when she knew it. The “accountability” she faced was getting the top job. Ouch.
Qantas directors loitering in Chairman’s Lounge when they should be booted out
A 'renewal plan' in which key people in a series of debacles stay in place reflects Qantas' weird idea of accountability — one no-one else shares.BERNARD KEANE AND GLENN DYER
Qantas’ announcement this morning that Richard Goyder and a couple of other directors would be moseying away from the smoking ruin that is the airline’s reputation over the course of the next year is another demonstration of how cluelessly out of touch this mob of jokers are.
It’s a revamp organised by those departing the board, not staying — another example of how Goyder and other directors, including new CEO Vanessa Hudson, have no grasp of being seen to do the right thing.
Read MoreQantas told the Australian Stock Exchange this morning that “chairman Richard Goyder will retire prior to the annual general meeting (AGM) in late 2024”. Before that, “to facilitate further renewal, Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire at the Qantas half-year results in February 2024 after 10 years of service”. Former Liberal staffer and public servant Michael L’Estrange is already bailing out.
New directors Doug Parker and Heather Smith — both recent appointees with clean hands around the Alan Joyce-era litany of debacles — will remain. But so will Todd Sampson, Antony Tyler and Belinda Hutchinson.
All three have been on the board for years — in Sampson’s case, since 2015. His purported marketing expertise hasn’t done anything to rescue Qantas from the greatest branding dumpster fire in Australian corporate history. Along with his fellow directors, he seems to have sat back and watched as Joyce and his management illegally sacked workers, engaged in anti-competitive conduct, flogged tickets for flights that didn’t exist and underpaid workers millions — never mind turning the once-beloved national carrier into a national joke.
That any Qantas director other than Parker and Smith is still there is a testament to a dearth of accountability at Qantas and the contempt the airline continues to harbour towards its workers and customers.
Goyder’s half-arsed retirement — in which he remains chair for another year despite presiding over every Qantas disaster over the past five years — is particularly insulting. The airline’s risible media release links the board turnover, such as it is, to “the significant reputational and customer service issues facing the group” and that it recognises “that accountability is required to restore trust”. But what accountability? Two directors who’ve been there a decade moving on (in 2024) and a chairman deciding he’ll wander off at a time of his own choosing, with no boardroom succession or renewal plan in place.
Read MoreAnd right at the end of the statement was the most interesting news of all — Qantas is going to have an inquiry into the Joyce era: “The board has also commenced a process of independently reviewing key governance matters over the past 12 months and will share outcomes in the second quarter of calendar year 2024.”
Notice the word choice. It’ll share the “outcomes”, not the report itself, which in any event will be an internal product, not an independent one. What price a proper, rigorous inquiry while one of the two main culprits in these “governance matters”, Goyder, is still chair? What betting that Joyce is the scapegoat?
And what about the big issue hanging over the board — how it’ll handle Joyce’s mammoth long-term bonus despite the opprobrium he’s brought on the company and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s shocking revelations of tickets for no service?
This is “accountability” Qantas style: an internal inquiry, a board makeover where a couple of those who directly oversaw the trashing of the company face the inconvenience of bringing forward their retirement dates a little, or having to promise they’ll leave at some point late the following year, while the rest stay in on the giggle.
And that applies to Hudson too. She has never explained what she knew about the no-service scandal as CFO, or when she knew it. The “accountability” she faced was getting the top job. Ouch.
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Can someone explain in simple terms how a system that gives you points that allow you to trade those points for goods and services is not a debt against that system.
Somehow it has morphed in to a money making business - HOW??
Somehow it has morphed in to a money making business - HOW??
short flights long nights
I had wondered this as well. However my understanding is, a company, let’s use Coles for the example ( I have no idea if Coles is involved with QF FFP, but let’s pretend they are), they buy points off Qantas….let’s say 10 million at are certain price. They then advertise, “ For every 50 dollars you spend this month on your Coles Mastercard, you will get 100 Qantas FFP”. I think that’s how it works,,,Qantas makes money selling FFP to other businesses, and I would guess lots of them are never redeemed.
I’ve tried to understand this for a while.
Qantas sells 80$ worth of value of frequent flyer points that ‘Coles’ in you example buy and passes on to their customer, for 100$ so there is an immediate 25% profit margin. And that’s before they hold onto the effective money, sell a seat that was probably vacant, tie you to the airline, on sell something else like car hire, sell wine at a profit. The list goes on and on and on.
All the while, not being burden with expensive assets such as aircraft.
A accountants dream. Until the primary brand gets damaged.
Qantas sells 80$ worth of value of frequent flyer points that ‘Coles’ in you example buy and passes on to their customer, for 100$ so there is an immediate 25% profit margin. And that’s before they hold onto the effective money, sell a seat that was probably vacant, tie you to the airline, on sell something else like car hire, sell wine at a profit. The list goes on and on and on.
All the while, not being burden with expensive assets such as aircraft.
A accountants dream. Until the primary brand gets damaged.
Good morning Qantas HR,
Captain Bloggs 737 Captain, just a courtesy email to let you know that I will be flying for Virgin on my days off.
I noticed that a Qantas executive Ms Worthless has taken a position with Myers, to help with cost of living pressures.
Regards
Captain Bloggs
Captain Bloggs 737 Captain, just a courtesy email to let you know that I will be flying for Virgin on my days off.
I noticed that a Qantas executive Ms Worthless has taken a position with Myers, to help with cost of living pressures.
Regards
Captain Bloggs
As touched on by SOPS and Aussie Fo, Loyalty morphed when it expanded into program partnerships. The "paying customer" for airline Loyalty businesses these days is not the punter, it is the Program Partner (the likes of Coles, 7-Eleven, BP, credit card companies, etc). The Program Partners treat their outlay on purchasing FF points as marketing; it is simply just another expense line associated with getting punters to buy their products.
The more punters who are FF members, the more attractive the program is to Program Partners; the more Program Partners, the more attractive the program is to the punter.
For the airlines, Loyalty with a solid Program Partner base is a year round, flying or not, revenue stream with generally quite substantial margins due to the very low cost base. For QF, Loyalty routinely makes more than Jetstar off half the revenue.
Frequent flyer is the tail that wags the dog. Qantas has an international fleet size smaller than a traditional airline would have because its primary purpose is to make FF points appear valuable.
I was looking at a trip to London in about a year. A J class seat on that route costs about 1.9 million points, and there are very few days on which you can travel.
I was looking at a trip to London in about a year. A J class seat on that route costs about 1.9 million points, and there are very few days on which you can travel.
For QF, Loyalty routinely makes more than Jetstar off half the revenue.
Just so I understand - I'm a gumby at interpreting financial reports - does that mean Loyalty makes more profit as a dollar figure than does J*?
The following 2 users liked this post by MickG0105:
AP (et al) - And that, I believe, is the big reason for the exemplary lounges. QF.com sells tickets on airlinesX but only has to have a very cheap (in comparison) room at either end to create the illusion of quality and value for money. Why buy and run a 787 (when we missed the boat on the tripler) when you can round up a few 'blockheads' (Aust TV show) and knock up a cheap reno in an airport space - chuck in an aging pony tailed chef that your grandparents remember and boy does that make a difference to operating costs....
Good morning Qantas HR,
Captain Bloggs 737 Captain, just a courtesy email to let you know that I will be flying for Virgin on my days off.
I noticed that a Qantas executive Ms Worthless has taken a position with Myers, to help with cost of living pressures.
Regards
Captain Bloggs
Captain Bloggs 737 Captain, just a courtesy email to let you know that I will be flying for Virgin on my days off.
I noticed that a Qantas executive Ms Worthless has taken a position with Myers, to help with cost of living pressures.
Regards
Captain Bloggs
1 of AJ's little lieutenants & a real piece of work, the sarcastic smirk on her dial says it all.
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Distasteful though she is in almost every way, Elaine can’t hold a candle to her in the nork department. Light on, she is not. And that’s a good thing. Probably THE good things.
What’s debatable is whether that particular skill ‘set’ relates to a deep and thorough understanding of the airline industry.
What’s debatable is whether that particular skill ‘set’ relates to a deep and thorough understanding of the airline industry.
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Looking forward to returning to Japan soon but in the meantime continuing the never ending search for a bad bottle of Red!
Age: 69
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Regarding the continuing hopeless behaviour of the Qantas Board and Management in general;
Even though I am not a Qantas Employee (nor ever have been) can someone please explain to me why I keep having recurring visions of burning torches, pitchforks and Tumbrils?
Even though I am not a Qantas Employee (nor ever have been) can someone please explain to me why I keep having recurring visions of burning torches, pitchforks and Tumbrils?
Even though I am not a Qantas Employee (nor ever have been) can someone please explain to me why I keep having recurring visions of burning torches, pitchforks and Tumbrils?
Surely they're not as blindsided as QF are to actually want that Ms anywhere near their company, 1 of AJ's little lieutenants & a real piece of work, the sarcastic smirk on her dial says it all
Unless the spin machine is unable to make it all go away, then the bloodhounds kick into action Bond, Skase style, and you’re fvcked. She has squandered her first few weeks as CEO and my money is on a short tenure.
The following 2 users liked this post by gordonfvckingramsay:
IMO you can’t teach leadership you either have it or you don’t . VH has none, it’s as if that word doesn’t exist in her vocabulary. You want the staff back on side piss off Freehills, Andrew Finch, Oldmeadow and the two year wage freeze. Wishful thinking I know.