Some poignant words for Joyce as he leaves Qantas
Letter writers and online commentators were upset this week by (former) Qantas boss Alan Joyce’s early departure from the airline as he paid excess baggage fees to take his sizeable bonuses with him. How would the airline recover from its recent reputational damage?
Early departure with lots of hand luggage
Illustration: John ShakespeareCredit:
Mark Paskal, Austinite I ultimately agree with one of Joyce’s decisions. Just be sure that his baggage is potentially seriously overweight when he’s carrying $10.8 million worth of stock, a $4.3 million short-term bonus, and an $8 million long-term stock bonus approaching the departure hall.
blackbird Joyce will be remembered as a CEO who got lucky when, shortly after he was named CEO in 2008, global aviation fuel prices fell significantly, leading to a huge increase in profits without him actually having to do anything.
Le mot juste I remember being let down when Joyce, in his fight against the unions, suddenly and without warning closed the airline.
Don’t worry about the customer, buddy. Thanks for nothing.
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Biggles Context is important, but Alan Joyce always seemed to take his customers for granted. As a result, shareholders love him, but he has alienated a significant portion of the non-stock customer base.
JE “Glittering”? Taxpayers bailed out $2.7 billion during the COVID-19 crisis. Laid off more than 20,000 full-time workers during his reign. And the share price is still lower than it was before the global financial crisis (around the same time he took over the company).
Philip Cooney, Wentworth Falls Until the very end, Joyce puts Qantas’ bottom line first. Let’s hope his successor is ready to finally bring customers to the front of the queue.
Peter Fyfe, Enmore It’s not often that a Qantas flight departs early and requires so much luggage.
The other dismissal.Credit: Cathy Wilcox
What should be at the top of the list for a new CEO?
- The question is whether Vanessa Hudson, part of former CEO Alan Joyce’s leadership team, will really set the airline on a new course, wrote senior correspondent Anne Hyland.
Jacqui Keats, Black head Qantas, same old story. The guy at the front packs up and a woman takes over the task of sorting things out.
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maggie The first and obvious question for Hudson is: as CFO, what role did she play in the decisions made? We all know that the role of a CFO is implicit in all major business decisions.
Rossco Hudson must book a QF economy class flight to experience first-hand how most of its customers were mistreated by its predecessor in the pursuit of profit. Maybe she can persuade the board members to attend the livestock class and discuss the experience at the next board meeting.
David Nicholson I, along with numerous others, vowed never to fly Qantas again. It is the accumulation of poor service, high prices and cancellations without explanation.
Magilla At the top of the new CEO’s list? Recognize that customers have legitimate complaints and can address them promptly.
Charlie B A high priority must be to address the pathetic level of customer service. It’s all well and good encouraging people to transact online, but not all transactions are easy and if you need to speak to someone, you should be able to do so without spending hours on hold.
Lucinda Now return the entire balance as a refund and repay all pandemic payments. That would show a clean slate and good faith. If you want to be successful as a company, never prioritize your shareholders over your customers.
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Should Joyce be paid out in reward points?
- When it comes to sacrifice, this isn’t much of a sacrifice. Alan Joyce was due to leave in two months. The optics may be in Qantas’ favor, but the difference in practical terms is small, wrote business columnist Elizabeth Knight.
Shane T Ultimately, it is always about the return for shareholders. That’s it. As for Joyce? His reputation preceded him and whatever we think of his performance, he delivered a stunning return. Does he care what anyone thinks? His legacy? Nup. He won’t look in the rearview mirror.
Maureen Lysaght, Terrey Hills The multi-million dollar bonuses that Alan Joyce will receive make the four Cartier watches (total value $20,000) presented by Christine Holgate to Australia Post executives look downright mean.
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Only maybe I suggest that the board pay him classic bonus points.
John Byrne, Randwick Alan Joyce has done what many Qantas aircraft have failed to do. He left early and still kept his luggage.
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