Qantas CEO Alan Joyce speaks with members of the media during an event celebrating Qantas’ 100th anniversary at Sydney Airport in Sydney, Australia, November 16, 2020. Reuters/Lauren Elliott Obtaining license rights
SYDNEY, Sept 5 (Reuters) – Australia’s Qantas Airways (QAN.AX) has announced that its long-serving CEO will bring forward his retirement amid controversy over allegations of illegal ticket sales. Major airlines have signaled they want the recession to end. A turbulent time.
Alan Joyce, the airline’s boss of 15 years, was due to retire in November, but in recent weeks he has been “focused on Qantas and past events” and will be leaving two months early, the company said in a statement on Tuesday. Stated. Without explaining the details.
Five days earlier, Australia’s consumer watchdog had accused Qantas of breaching the country’s consumer laws by selling tickets for around 8,000 canceled flights in mid-2022. Qantas had issued two apologies, citing the difficult circumstances in the industry at the time.
The company said Mr. Joyce’s departure will help “accelerate the company’s turnaround” and give the impression of a company that has withstood years of social and political pressure.
For a decade and a half, Mr Joyce has regularly faced criticism over job cuts, including his decision in 2011 to ground all Qantas flights due to industrial disputes.
Even before the no-flight fare scandal broke, Qantas faced negative headlines for its reported successful campaign to prevent rival Qatar Airways from operating additional flights to Australia. was.
The company also faced intense scrutiny over its decision to let nearly A$500 million ($323 million) in pandemic-era flight credits expire by the end of the year, but shortly after regulators filed a lawsuit. This decision was withdrawn.
Mr. Joyce, which announced record annual profits last month after three years of losses due to the pandemic, has long been a favorite among investors.
But the company’s stock price has fallen 13% since early August amid questions about whether it maximized profits at the expense of its long-term reputation with customers. The stock price fell slightly on Tuesday, along with the broader market (.AXJO).
“Alan Joyce’s Qantas legacy is a brand that is now synonymous with low wages, precarious work, wrongful dismissal and consumer rip-offs,” said Labor senator Tony Sheldon, former Transport Workers’ Union leader. the lawmaker said in a statement.
“The board has supported Joyce’s actions every step of the way and must be held accountable as well,” he added.
Qantas declined a request for an interview with its chairman, Richard Goyder. In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Mr Goyder said it was “a period of humility and you’ll see a lot of that”.
Joyce’s early retirement will see her successor, Vanessa Hudson, become the first woman to lead the 100-year-old airline from Wednesday.
($1 = 1.5480 Australian Dollar)
Reporting by Byron Kay in Sydney and Aishwarya Naar in Bengaluru.Editing: Jamie Freed
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