Qantas Airlines boss resigns over scandal

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce actually wanted to retire in November. But in the past few weeks, his life’s work has collapsed on him like a house of cards. Australia’s former model is in the headlines almost every day – the next scandal. The worst of them: The airline allegedly cheated its customers — allegedly selling thousands of tickets for flights that had already been canceled.

On Tuesday, Joyce announced his early resignation. The company “must prioritize renewal,” said the 57-year-old Irish-Australian, who has led the company as CEO for 15 years. “The best thing I can do in this situation is to bring my pension forward.” Previous CFO Vanessa Hudson will assume her role from Wednesday. Hudson is the first female CEO in the airline’s 103-year history.

Hudson is taking on the role “in the midst of a severe crisis,” Michelle Ryan, director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, commented on the boss’s change on the messaging service X (formerly Twitter). Ryan questioned whether it was “another glass cliff” where “women have to clean up the mess should.”

“Ghost Flights” tickets sold out

The “confusion” at Qantas has been brewing for months, if not years, but last week in particular was a nightmare for the airline’s image. Australian consumer watchdog ACCC has accused Qantas of selling tickets for “ghost flights”. Between May and July last year, tickets for over 8,000 already canceled flights were reportedly sold. On Thursday, the agency filed a lawsuit in court alleging “false, misleading or deceptive conduct.” The ACCC is seeking more than 250 million Australian dollars in fines, the equivalent of almost 150 million euros.

Another reason for the dissatisfaction is that the airline removed the expiry date for the Covid travel credits – which the company has since reversed. At least $470 million (almost €280 million) in loans had not yet been repaid and were due at the end of the year. Also, the criteria for membership in the airline’s so-called Chairman’s Lounge were explored. Usually only CEOs, celebrities and politicians have access to it. Joyce is also said to have offered membership to the 23-year-old son of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Millions sweeten their Sabbath

However, the airline had already lost consumer confidence last year. Then, apart from the canceled flights, there were also delayed flights. Long waiting times, lost luggage and IT problems were the order of the day. The staff shortage came after Joyce laid off thousands of staff during the pandemic. Joyce also personally apologized to customers via video.

Michael Cain, secretary of the airline union Transport Workers Union, said in a statement on Tuesday that Alan Joyce’s departure was “the first good decision by the Qantas board in a very long time”. Cain also called for Joyce’s multi-million dollar bonuses to be eliminated. Joyce is retiring two months early with a salary of $24 million (€14 million), the union secretary criticized. In doing so, he left “one of the biggest messes in Australian corporate history”.

One of the safest airlines in the world

The airline’s “image crash” was particularly serious because Qantas had been considered a model company for years. In several rankings, the Australians were listed as the safest airline in the world and were praised for both high safety standards and the company’s willingness to innovate. “Qantas never crashes,” Dustin Hoffman once said in his role as an autistic man in the classic film “Rain Man.” A sentence burned into the brains of air travelers around the world, statistically speaking, is still true.

The airline’s track record of innovation is indeed positive: in 2019, Qantas became the first airline to fly non-stop from New York to Sydney. The Qantas flight took 19 hours and 16 minutes to complete the record 16,200 kilometer journey. At the same time, Qantas made headlines when it came to sustainability: In early 2018, the airline tested a biofuel flight from Los Angeles to Melbourne for the first time.

A spokesperson for the company promised that it would like to regain this positive reputation. “We want the community to know we hear and understand their frustration,” a local media spokeswoman said. They knew the repairs would take some time, but were “absolutely determined” to do so.