What's Going On With Qantas and Alan Joyce?

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce quit on Tuesday, effective immediately after his reputation, and the airline’s took massive hits in the last week.

It’s been a saga, so here’s what’s happened.

The ACCC, Australia’s consumer watchdog, surprised Qantas last Thursday by launching Federal Court action alleging the airline sold tickets for more than 8,000 flights it had already cancelled on its system which it says is false, misleading or deceptive conduct.

The ACCC is seeking penalties, injunctions, declarations, and costs.

It’s been also revealed that in the past two years Qantas has received more ACCC complaints than any other company from dissatisfied customers, for things like high prices, flight cancellations and delays and staff cuts and poor working conditions, all while Qantas refused to return the billions it received from Jobkeeper during the pandemic and after it posted a record $2.47 billion profit last month.

One day after the ACCC launched legal action, Qantas announced that, amid these record profits, Alan Joyce would receive 1.74 million company shares, valued at more than $10 million. The CFO, now his successor, Vanessa Hudson also collected $2 million worth of shares.

Joyce, who’s been CEO since 2008, had already been planning his retirement for November and earlier this year it was revealed that he was expected to leave with a retirement package of $24 million. And he already gets paid more than $4 million a year. He has a $2.2 million base annual salary, plus he gets annual bonuses of up to $2 million.

Meanwhile, Qantas flight attendants had to threaten to strike to lift the freeze on raises their base salary which was as low as $49,400 a year.

On Monday, Rex airline’s deputy chair John Sharp also came out and accused Qantas of bullying smaller airlines to protect its market position. He also said international flights departing Australia remained about 50 per cent more expensive than pre-pandemic.

Everything that happened over the weekend is also backdropped by a decision by Albanese government’s decision to deny Qatar Airway’s request to add 28 more flights weekly to Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

The Greens and the Opposition called for and now won a Senate inquiry into this decision, and questioned whether this intervention was to “protect Qantas profits”.

On Monday afternoon, Qantas conceded its reputation was “hit hard on several fronts” and “it will take time to repair”.

On Tuesday morning, Joyce announced his would bring his retirement forward by two months.

“In the last few weeks, the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority,” he said in a statement.

“The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa [Hudson] and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job.” 

Qantas is now being called upon to scrap Joyce’s bonuses and retirement pay packet. 

The Australian Shareholders’ Association’s CEO Rachel Waterhouse said that if the company wanted to restore its reputation it needed to take action. 

“There’s deterioration in the brand and also the share price. They might need to make some decisions to put bonuses on hold or reconsider their remuneration,” she said.

The Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kain also said Joyce was “finally facing the public scrutiny he deserves”. He added the fact that he was getting these millions in bonuses was one of the biggest swindles this country has ever known”.

In a statement, Qantas said it was reviewing the ACCC’s claims, which were obviously concerning.

“The ACCC’s allegations come at a time when Qantas’s reputation has already been hit hard on several fronts,” the statement read.

“We want the community to know that we hear and understand their disappointment. We know that the only way to fix it is by delivering consistently. We know it will take time to repair. And we are absolutely determined to do that.”

Aleksandra Bliszczyk is the Deputy Editor of VICE Australia. Follow her on Instagram.