Qantas to slash ex-CEO’s payout
SYDNEY: Australian airline Qantas said Thursday it will claw back millions of dollars of bonuses paid to ex-CEO Alan Joyce, citing poor performance and a series of damaging public scandals.
SYDNEY: A Virgin Airways plane travels down the runway as a QantasLink Dash 8-400 series plane takes off at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith international airport. – AFP.
The carrier said its board had approved a Aus$9.26 million (US$6 million) reduction in the Irish-born executive’s payout package. Joyce took early retirement in late 2023 as the once-beloved airline faced sustained criticism over its service, soaring ticket prices and the treatment of staff. It enraged once-loyal Australians by charging high ticket prices despite record profits and getting a multi-billion-dollar taxpayer-funded bailout during the pandemic.
It was also embroiled in a bruising “ghost flights” scandal that saw it pay a massive fine for continuing to sell seats on long-cancelled flights. Qantas said it had made the decision taking into account the “challenges” facing the airline and “in recognition of the customer and brand impact of cumulative events”. The carrier was long seen as the “spirit of Australia” — the nation’s link to the rest of the world. Although not state-run, Qantas is seen as an integral part of the economy and vital to cohesion in a country where major cities are hundreds of kilometers apart.
Meanwhile, Qantas scrapped its non-stop Perth to London flight Thursday, saying the decision was taken as a “precaution” due to tensions in the Middle East. The flight, usually a non-stop 17-and-a-half hour journey, will now refuel in Singapore, allowing it to carry a full load of passengers on a route that avoids contested air space. It is the second time this year the airline has been forced to redirect flights due to unrest in the Middle East.
The return service — London to Perth — will continue to fly non-stop on a readjusted path due to prevailing winds. Qantas joins other airlines including Lufthansa in redirecting flights from the area. The region is bracing for a military retaliation from Iran against Zionists, following the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, last week in Tehran. Both Iran and Hamas blamed the Zionist entity for the assassination and, along with Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, threatened reprisals. The Zionist entity has neither confirmed nor denied that it was behind Haniyeh’s killing. — Agencies.
