Alan Joyce, the CEO of Qantas for the past 15 years, is departing the company for which he is known, and Vanessa Hudson will take over in November.
The Qantas Group announced this morning that Alan Joyce, its CEO for the past 15 years, will step down from his position in November. Another pillar of Qantas, Vanessa Hudson, who has worked for the company for 28 years and presently serves as its Chief Financial Officer, will take over as his replacement.
The succession plan has never been officially confirmed by Qantas, despite the fact that rumors about Joyce’s retirement or successor have been circulating for years and typically come to light during crises.The appointment of Hudson, according to Chairman Richard Goyder, provides for a seamless changeover from current CEO Alan Joyce. Hudson was chosen following a rigorous vetting process.
The Board had a number of excellent candidates to evaluate, both inside and externally, and much consideration had gone into this succession.After nearly three decades in a variety of roles in onshore and offshore locations, including commercial, customer, and financial, Vanessa has a thorough understanding of this industry. She is a fantastic leader and has a ton of expertise in the aviation industry.
The Joyce legacy: what is it?
Similar to the popular political phrase “King is dead, long live the King,” announcements like this one are frequently published in two sections. In actuality, Joyce has led Qantas through a number of significant existential crises, such as the fleet’s grounding, the global financial crisis, several labor disputes, and COVID-19.With likely the highest profit in Qantas’s history and an airline poised for even greater success as Project Sunrise materializes, both financially and operationally, he will leave the company. His strong competitiveness and divisive philosophy of acting in Qantas’ best interests will be reflected in a great deal of writing about him and his legacy.
The chairman, as was to be expected, lavished praise on Joyce, claiming that “Alan deserves a lot of the credit for the bright future Qantas has ahead of it.” Goyder cited a carrier with a defined strategy, solid financial position, and record of profitability that “supports a pipeline of investment for customers, opportunities for our people, and returns to shareholders.”Joyce just had this to say in today’s statement, though he will undoubtedly have more to say in the coming weeks.
“I extended my tenure as CEO at the Board’s request so that I could see the COVID recovery plan through, so now that we’ve come out of the crisis it makes sense for me to step down,” the CEO said. In the upcoming six months, there are still many things I want to accomplish, and making sure Vanessa transitions into the position seamlessly is at the top of that list.
The person Vanessa Hudson.
Vanessa Hudson, who began working for the company in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor and is currently the CEO-designate of Qantas, is another important person to mention today. Following this year’s Annual General Meeting in November, she will assume the position as the airline’s 13th CEO in its 103-year history.
She has held senior managerial positions at Qantas in the areas of finance, catering, inflight services, sales and distribution, and commercial planning. She also served as senior vice president for the Americas and New Zealand for a brief period of time. Before being replaced, Hudson will continue to serve as group chief financial officer, a job she assumed in 2019 just as the pandemic threw a huge wrench into Qantas’ balance sheet.
The opportunity now exists for her to oversee the renewal of the domestic fleet, which she also oversaw during the fleet selection process last year. Since she has extensive experience in most areas of the airline and has spent the last five years on the Group Management Committee, she won’t require L-plates when she assumes the position of CEO. It’s an amazing honor to be asked to manage the national airline, Hudson said this morning when describing her strategy.
This is an amazing business with many highly brilliant employees, and it is well set up for the future. Delivering for our customers, workers, shareholders, and the communities we serve—those on whom we depend and who depend on us—will be my main priority.With any rumors about Joyce’s future as CEO of Qantas finally put to rest, the discussion will shift to examining his legacy and accomplishments, with both his supporters and detractors coming up in equal measure to have their say.
Qantas was in a disaster and had an image that was clearly tarnished a year ago, but Joyce and his staff have already turned things around, and the Qantas he is handing over to Hudson today is nothing like the organization it was in the early months of 2022.
The main concern is probably where he will appear next.
