Why Vanessa Hudson’s kids didn’t want her to be Qantas CEO

The airline boss opens up about career timing, why it’s OK to be wrong, and why the current timetable for fleet renewal is fine, thank you very much.

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson has lunch with the AFR’s Ayesha de Kretser at the Airbus factory in Hamburg, Germany. Beatrice Król

Ayesha de KretserSenior reporter

Mar 28, 2025 – 11.39am

Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

I sit down to lunch with Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson feeling nervous.

I’m desperate to ask Hudson whether it’s OK to be considered a “boring” CEO in aviation these days – at least compared to her headline-prone predecessor – but now that we’re sitting in a room together, alone, with views stretching across Hamburg’s picturesque Elbe River, I decide to put it off.

Email LinkedIn Twitter Facebook

Subscribe to gift this article

Gift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.

Subscribe now

Already a subscriber?

License article

Introducing your Newsfeed

Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.

Find out more

Ayesha de KretserSenior reporterAyesha de Kretser is a senior reporter with The Australian Financial Review covering the aviation and tourism sectors. She has previously reported on banking, mining and commodity markets.