Alan Joyce to leave Qantas immediately

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Its paywalled so I will minimize large-scale copy and paste but there were three things that stood out to me in this article in The Australian's Business Review:


A scathing corporate governance review described Mr Joyce as having a “command and control” leadership style and “top-down culture” at the aviation giant.


Firstly there were anonymous people within Qantas wanting to go on record:


Another former executive who did not want to be named said he was constantly impressed by Mr Joyce’s intelligence and his ability to recall figures and fine details with complete accuracy.

He said if you were competent enough to gain Mr Joyce’s trust, he would ask for your opinions.

But he was not without surprises, and he recalled a function where, when asked what his “least favourable trait was”, Mr Joyce said “I don’t act on poor performers fast enough”.


“At that stage there were members of the group management committee everyone knew shouldn’t be there. He did eventually act,” the source said.




Secondly, Leigh Clifford strongly defends Alan Joyce but I suspect more a case of defending his own legacy:

But Mr Clifford, a former Qantas chairman who worked alongside Mr Joyce for 11 years, said he had “a high regard for Alan’s management style” in what was a challenging industry.

“It’s not a place for coughcats,” Mr Clifford said.

I can’t speak about the last six years, I only observed from afar, but I think he was a very capable leader and he was respected by his team and by investors.”




And Thirdly the impact that all the Covid state border shenanigans had on the decision-making and culture within the company. Basically it seemed that the international border closure and then the state border stuff meant that it was the Alan Joyce Show from Early 2020 onwards i.e. they thought they were so good at managing the pandemic crisis that they forgot how to do anything else, like run an airline, manage a fleet, follow industrial and consumer law, handle complaints, listen to staff and customers......

Whether Mr Joyce stayed too long or became too confident in his own abilities was a matter of conjecture, however Qantas insiders suggested the Covid-19 pandemic led to a change in his management style.

As border restrictions changed by the hour within Australia, decisions were being made fast and furiously, and that approach continued when the health crisis eased, to Qantas’s detriment.
 
Covid was very convenient for some !
I am intrigued to read that the Board ( not sure if they deserve a capital B ) needed a major review to accept
that they have some responsibility in overseeing the
operation of Qantas.
 
Covid was very convenient for some !
I am intrigued to read that the Board ( not sure if they deserve a capital B ) needed a major review to accept
that they have some responsibility in overseeing the
operation of Qantas.
Covid was an airline killer and hospitality killer in general so I don’t judge an airline on their behaviour in that period.

I do believe AJ didn’t do things without the backing of others and the board backs the CEO and therefore needs broom through that level as well.
 
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Gift that keeps on giving. from the ABC:

"Qantas has revealed that it will pay former CEO Alan Joyce an extra $3.4 million for his last two months in the role, according to its annual report.

Mr Joyce will also receive further income from the airline as he is still part of a long term incentive plan scheme (valid until 2026).

Looking ahead, he could receive a further $2.4 million in deferred long-term bonuses (as long as Qantas' share price stays at its current level, and if the company meets its performance goals)."
 
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Gift that keeps on giving. from the ABC:

"Qantas has revealed that it will pay former CEO Alan Joyce an extra $3.4 million for his last two months in the role, according to its annual report.

Mr Joyce will also receive further income from the airline as he is still part of a long term incentive plan scheme (valid until 2026).

Looking ahead, he could receive a further $2.4 million in deferred long-term bonuses (as long as Qantas' share price stays at its current level, and if the company meets its performance goals)."
So anyone who was on the Board of Qantas at the time that incentive plan was signed should be ashamed of themselves and resign.
But they won't of course as then no CL lounge privileges i imagine.
 
Multi-year options vesting.. to align Execs with the shareholders.. if the share price goes down they are worthless.

Qantas share price up 27% last 12 months and has more than doubled since it's Mar 2020 lows. Anyone on the exec team over that time is likely still getting paid.

I'd still like to here what Joyce said to make the Board pick him over Borghetti.

I wonder whether it was something like - we need to make some hard decisions over the forthcoming period to reduce costs. I'm short, Irish and homosexual and I'm going to cop the brunt of any backlash, protecting you individually as Board.members.
 

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