Former Qantas CEO Payout Slashed

Despite departing Qantas amid one of the toughest periods in its history, Alan Joyce, the former head, continues to re-emerge in headlines.

Qantas will now cut the bonuses that former CEO Alan Joyce was set to receive by a staggering AUD 9.3 million.

The reason the exit bonuses have been reduced follows a major review conducted by external parties into Alan Joyce’s tenure.

As part of this major review, the airline’s performance and its status within the industry have been focused on. This has been primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to dramatic changes over five years.

Interestingly, the review did find that Alan Joyce was responsible for the demise of the Australian flag carrier, with a lot of focus on the collapse of the relationship between the brand and its customers.

Confidence in the Qantas brand dropped to historically low levels as the company navigated the pandemic. A lack of trust, unfair treatment of employees, and many other issues impacted the business.

As the airline faced mounting pressures, Alan Joyce, who was typically critiqued the most, left the company quite quickly as part of the airline’s plan to overhaul the executive team, hoping this would result in the change required to turn the corner.

While the external review confirmed that Alan Joyce was responsible for the essential demise of key business areas, this hasn’t shocked the vast majority of observers who have studied the airline over recent years.

Qantas previously represented the country. However, under Alan Joyce’s leadership, the brand image plummeted in a few years, and it was no longer a respected or recognised quality brand.

Before compensation was cut, Joyce was entitled to an amount exceeding AUD 20 million, a staggering figure many felt for a man responsible for leading the airline into a dark place.

Qantas found that, through the review, Joyce, who had previously worked the company through financial and other troubles, had seemingly been given too much leniency, which had caused the company to be put in a dark place.