Thirteen months since Alan Joyce crashed out of Qantas, pushed out of the airline by angry customers, angrier regulators and restive investors, the company’s share price is back at a record high and the carrier’s reputation is seemingly on the mend.

But there are still plenty of questions hanging over one high-profile link to the airline’s troubled past: Todd Sampson, the advertising executive turned company director who sits on the Qantas board. A popular presenter on the ABC’s Gruen Transfer program about marketing, Sampson has become a lightning rod for investor dissatisfaction.