Australia: Australia’s Qantas Airways has reportedly announced that its CEO, Mr. Alan Joyce, is retiring amid a publicity firestorm following an accusation of illegal ticket sales.
The Chief Financial Officer Ms. Vanessa Hudson will take over the role after Mr. Joyce.
The long-serving CEO decided to retire in November 2023 but announced that he was leaving two months early due to “the focus on Qantas and events of the past” in the last few weeks.
Australia’s consumer watchdog filed a lawsuit against Qantas, accusing the airline of selling tickets for about 8,000 flights in mid-2022 that had already been cancelled, which goes against the country’s consumer protection laws. The Airways had previously apologised twice for this, citing challenging conditions in the industry during that period.
The airline stated that Mr. Joyce’s retirement would allow it to speed up its renewal. For more than 15 years, Joyce consistently received criticism for job cuts, which included a notable incident in 2011 when he grounded the entire Qantas fleet during an industrial dispute.
Prior to the fares-for-no-flights controversy, Qantas had already been in the spotlight for reportedly persuading the Australian federal government to prevent rival Qatar Airways from adding more flights to Australia.
The airline came under scrutiny for initially allowing nearly $323 million in pandemic-era flight credits to expire by year-end. However, shortly after the regulator filed its lawsuit, the airline reversed this decision.
Mr. Joyce, who recently revealed a record annual profit after enduring three years of pandemic-induced losses, had consistently been well-liked by investors.
However, the airline’s stock price had declined by 13 percent since the beginning of August 2023, with concerns raised about whether it prioritised short-term profits over its long-term relationship with customers. On September 5 2023, the shares were slightly down, in line with the broader market trends, as per the statement.
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