AFR Article - Joe Aston goes BAM!

[Foreigner]

Joyce’s parmesan waft trumps Goyder’s humility cologne

If the Qantas chairman had any balls at all, he would voluntarily put himself up for election at the AGM on November 3.

www.afr.com

Wow

This was brutal and really a joy to read

 

[CaptJCool]

Something to listen podcast with Joe

The story behind Qantas’ rapid descent, and what’s next

This week in The Fin podcast, Ayesha de Kretser and Joe Aston on the early departure and legacy of Alan Joyce, who else should be held to account and whether the government will have to revisit its decision on Qatar Airways.

www.afr.com

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks. Also available via Podcast services.

 

[CaptJCool]

‘A terrible look’: Columnist’s criticism of Qantas bosses

Financial Review columnist Joe Aston has questioned the decision-making of Qantas' senior leadership team as the national carrier faces a myriad of dramas.

www.skynews.com.au

 

[anyonebutqantas]

I might buy 1 token QF share just to attend the AGM and move a motion nominating Joe Aston to join the Qantas Board.

 

[justinbrett]

I might buy 1 token QF share just to attend the AGM and move a motion nominating Joe Aston to join the Qantas Board.

Wouldn't be the first time he worked for Qantas

 

[RooFlyer]

Wouldn't be the first time he worked for Qantas

... as Alan Joyce kept pointing out.

 

[justinbrett]

... as Alan Joyce kept pointing out.

There must be a juicy story there!

 

[anat0l]

There must be a juicy story there!

He worked for the company, he no longer does, but he knows the company enough to be able to pick out all the skeletons and poke all its bones.

Can't be much more juicier than that? (Wouldn't matter if he left the company on good or bad terms)

 

[jakeseven7]

There must be a juicy story there!

There’s clearly something that isn’t being said about this individuals time at the company.

Qantas would be highly restricted about what they could / couldn’t say about an individuals time at their business, especially if it came to a sticky end and the individual was exited under dubious circumstances. Speaking from experience showing many odd characters the door at my business, there could even be legal documents preventing disclosure…

It could be anything!

 

[jb747]

It would be nice if we could separate Qantas the airline, and Alan. One is a once great airline that has been seriously worked over by greedy CEOs and their sycophants. The other is a vile human being.

 

[anat0l]

One is a once great airline that has been seriously worked over be greedy CEOs and their sycophants.

There's a decent number of people who believe the airline is quite good in spite of this description.

No, they are not the fan bois (or at least not all of them).

Suffice to say one would ask what 2023 Qantas would look like had it not turned into what you have suggested. That or this surprisingly says something about other airlines around the world.

 

[drron]

There’s clearly something that isn’t being said about this individuals time at the company.

Qantas would be highly restricted about what they could / couldn’t say about an individuals time at their business, especially if it came to a sticky end and the individual was exited under dubious circumstances. Speaking from experience showing many odd characters the door at my business, there could even be legal documents preventing disclosure…

It could be anything!
Talk about conspiracy theories. I have already commented on this matter which was in one of the links to the Rear Window articles in this thread. So for your information here is Joe aston's version.

Joyce now requests that at the end of any column I write about Qantas, I should disclose that I am a former employee. I left the company 13 years ago on perfectly good terms

And

Joyce recently complained to The Australian Financial Review about his coverage in this column, and to demonstrate the full support of the Qantas board, chairman Richard Goyder held his hand as Joyce made the complaint. They are aggrieved that my criticism of Joyce has become personal.

www.afr.com/rear-window/alan-joyce-has-had-enough-20230416-p5d0ve

Joyce confuses personal criticism with individualised criticism, and my criticism is individualised because he is the individual whose ego totally dominates the Qantas organisation. His executives are in the bunker with a mad king in his last days and for any person who presents a truth he doesn’t like, the consequences are real. Joyce’s lieutenants mete out the same justice to their underlings. Goyder has been warned about this culture on multiple occasions and has declined to act.

And what did AJ do after the editor refused to shackle Joe Aston.
www.afr.com/rear-window/how-low-will-alan-joyce-go-20230508-p5d6sd

The sad fact is that Alan Joyce is emotionally ill-equipped to cope with his dead-set legend complex falling apart upon close public inspection. It is absolutely devastating to him – after 15 years of almost uninterrupted adulation – to be seen for what he really is: just another overpaid, insecure, unexceptional businessman who believes his own bullshit; just another CEO who did to his company what was best for himself.

Joyce has sustained the deepest wound to his internal dialogue, and his rage is like a wildfire. It goes to any opportunity, it knows no proportion, it descends to every pettiness. He probably realised how silly purging the Financial Review would make him look, but his ego defence overrides any calculation of consequences.

Yes banned the AFR from QF lounges.

 

[jrfsp]

Interesting article todays age/smh
(apologies paywall)

Over to you, Goyder. Qantas chair urged to take a more hands-on role

Richard Goyder denies he is a “hands-off” chairman of Qantas, but says he is willing to do whatever is required to repair the scandal-plagued airline.

www.theage.com.au

How true who knows, but if the chairman is writing down pros and cons at this stage that is quite alarming

 

[pauly7]

There’s clearly something that isn’t being said about this individuals time at the company.

I agree - but I don’t think we will ever find out what really happened to be honest.

 

[RooFlyer]

There’s clearly something that isn’t being said about this individuals time at the company.

Qantas would be highly restricted about what they could / couldn’t say about an individuals time at their business, especially if it came to a sticky end and the individual was exited under dubious circumstances. Speaking from experience showing many odd characters the door at my business, there could even be legal documents preventing disclosure…

Aston's early writing on Qantas that I've found is actually flattering to both the airline and Alan Joyce, for instance this puff piece from 2017.

www.afr.com/life-and-luxury/qantas-puts-faith-in-nonstop-perth-to-london-route-20161128-gsyuez

And he attacked The Australia's Miranda Divine about the same time when she was very critical of Joyce's advocacy for same-sex=marriage.

So, early on, closer to his departure from the airline, it appears to have been all rosy. The simplest explanation for his current crusade is that he sees a rotten target in post-covid times.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

There's a decent number of people who believe the airline is quite good in spite of this description.

No, they are not the fan bois (or at least not all of them).

Suffice to say one would ask what 2023 Qantas would look like had it not turned into what you have suggested. That or this surprisingly says something about other airlines around the world.

When QF gets things right, they really shine, and it's the staff -- notably the cabin crew -- who tend to stand out most. Those moments remind me -- even when I'm otherwise feeling fed up with the company -- of the potential. While the premium experience doesn't uniquely wow me, I still (despite all the problems) find QF's whY product (where most people sit) better than the vast majority of its competitors (I hope I haven't jinxed myself on QF 103 tonight).

Unfortunately, it feels the standard trend has been downwards (for good reason). I'm not an apologist QF fan boi because I'm not someone who needs to pretend to myself that the worsening institutional problems don't exist simply to placate my narrative, but I am someone who's always had a soft spot for and wants to like Qantas, and I will unreservedly cheer them on on if/when they start turning things around. It's because I want to like Qantas that I criticise them as much as I do: I want them to do better because I like them and expect more from them.

By all means, give Joe Aston nothing to go bam about.

 

[RooFlyer]

Qantas travellers will again be able to read Joe Aston going BAM!

Passengers through Qantas’ hallowed Chairman’s Lounge this week have reported seeing copies of the nation’s preeminent business title on display, while economy-class enthusiasts have been able to access it on the Qantas Wi-Fi. New chief Vanessa Hudson, we have since confirmed, has ended the former CEO’s boycott of this newspaper, which is once more available to Qantas passengers digitally and in corporal form.

Surely the previous ban wasn't just the petty decision of the incumbent CEO?

 

[anat0l]

Qantas travellers will again be able to read Joe Aston going BAM!



Surely the previous ban wasn't just the petty decision of the incumbent CEO?

..."in corporal form"

Seriously? When did publications start being said to have a body, let alone a spine?

 

[RooFlyer]

..."in corporal form"

I dare say they meant "corporeal form" ... meaning physical form.