It was one of the most jarring emails in recent Australian corporate history. Less than two weeks after delivering a $2.47 billion profit, 1.5 times as big as ever posted before, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce was telling staff he was bowing out.

“Yesterday we said that the company’s reputation had been hit hard on a number of fronts, that we understood why, and that we are committed to fixing it. I have no doubt that Qantas will rebound,” he wrote in an email sent to staff on Wednesday.