Qantas puts safety first with CEO appointment, choosing financial whiz Vanessa Hudson ahead of marketing queen Olivia Wirth

Qantas has put safety first with its appointment of chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson as the airline’s next CEO.

Qantas’ newly crowned chief executive, Vanessa Hudson, has outlined plans to be an inclusive and empowering leader as she seeks to resurrect the reputation of the century-old airline giant after several bruising years that have frayed relations with customers.

As the first female to lead the airline in its 103-year history, the crucial advice she would take into the role included “three tips — take care of your customers, take care of your people and take care of the business”.

“Customers are absolutely at the centre of everything we do, and you need to take care of your people because they deliver for your customers,” Ms Hudson said.

“Taking care of the business and building a strong organisation means the customers and people who are with us today will be there for the future as well.”

Former CEO Geoff Dixon warned that once she replaces long-serving boss Alan Joyce in November, she would have to deal with an issue all Qantas leaders experienced.

“Everybody in Australia thinks they can run Qantas better than management,” Mr Dixon said.

“You’ve got to deal with that, that the guy next door will always know how to run it better than you do. You’ve just got to suck it up and use the high profile of the role to try to better the company.”

After years of speculation and internal jostling, chairman Richard Goyder said Ms Hudson was rated the best candidate in a field of about 40 people from the global airline industry, including Qantas Loyalty boss Olivia Wirth.

“We did a very comprehensive global search, we looked across the sector,” Mr Goyder said.

“We came up with a pretty extensive list of people and we reasonably quickly narrowed it down to the two internals.”

The choice of Ms Hudson ahead of marketing maestro Ms Wirth appeared to be based on her handling of Qantas’s financial and treasury portfolio during the challenging Covid crisis.

Although Qantas Loyalty remained profitable throughout the pandemic, Ms Hudson took a lead role in the balance sheet repair work, to deliver a record $1.43bn half year profit.

As a leader, Ms Hudson said she appreciated “lots of voices” in solving issues but was decisive when needed.

She acknowledged the airline did not always get everything right particularly during the difficult Covid pandemic, but knowing when to pivot was part of being a strong leader.

“I think that was an incredibly valuable lesson for me during Covid,” said Ms Hudson.

“I would also say I’m very humble. I want to be very approachable, I want to be very visible in the organisation and I want to be a leader who empowers not just those in my leadership team but the whole organisation to be the best they can be in the jobs they do.”

Former chairman Leigh Clifford said the airline industry was a “numeracy intensive business” and “you’ve got to be that to take a key role in it”.

“Vanessa is certainly qualified in that regard,” Mr Clifford said.

“She’s a strong person, she understands the business and is a very safe pair of hands. She’s had very good experience leading into this role.”

Ms Hudson joined Qantas from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor.

Her rise through the ranks saw her fill such roles as vice president of the Americas and New Zealand, executive manager of sales and distribution, and chief customer officer.

Mr Goyder noted her “deep understanding of the business” adding that she would be supported by a “deep bench of executives across the organisation as well as the board”.

She revealed that the notion of potentially leading Qantas one day started to become real when she was appointed chief customer officer in 2018 and joined the group management committee.

“When I stepped onto the GMC, that’s when you need to consider yourself as being part of the talent pipeline for the CEO,” said Ms Hudson.

“I recognised I needed to prove myself and over the last few years, that’s been my number one focus. I took nothing for granted and I definitely didn’t have any expectation that this is where I was going to end up.”

Along with Mr Joyce and Mr Goyder, Ms Hudson paid tribute to the woman she defeated for the role, Olivia Wirth, who was described as an “amazingly outstanding executive”.

Ms Hudson said she hoped she would remain with Qantas.

“I spoke to Olivia yesterday and I’ve said to Olivia just how valued she is in the organisation and what she will hear from me is I absolutely want to see her as part of Qantas into the future, and I’ll be working with Olivia to support her in the coming months and years ahead,” Ms Hudson said.

Unions were quick to react to the announcement, saying they hoped to “build a better Qantas” in partnership with Ms Hudson.

Australian Services Union assistant national secretary Emeline Gaske said the first thing they wanted to see from the new CEO was a reversal of Qantas’ policy to cut, outsource and offshore jobs.

“We have lost thousands of jobs at Qantas before and during the pandemic. While demand has surged back to normal levels, staffing has not,” said Ms Gaske.

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine called the appointment a golden opportunity for a reset at Qantas, after years of bitterness between the two organisations.

“Our door is open for the new CEO to meet with worker representatives to establish a succession plan that would treat skilled and experienced workers as an essential investment rather than a cost,” Mr Kaine said.

Alan Joyce will have led Qantas for 15 years.

Labor senator Tony Sheldon, a former Transport Workers Union official, said Mr Joyce should give customers and employees “an early Christmas present and resign today”.

“Alan Joyce has left a massive task for the next CEO, who must restore the spirit of Australia to Qantas and end Alan Joyce’s ideological war on its loyal workforce and frustrated customers,” said Senator Sheldon.

“Vanessa Hudson will inherit an incredibly dedicated and passionate workforce, which is by far Qantas’ greatest asset.”

Mr Joyce had no plans to leave before November, saying there was still much work to do before he left.

However he was looking forward to “future opportunities” and gave no indication as to whether he wanted to remain in the aviation industry.

Qantas shares slipped after the announcement, closing down 20c or 3 per cent at $6.54.

Qantas Loyalty CEO Olivia Wirth and outgoing Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.

Originally published as Qantas puts safety first with CEO appointment, choosing financial whiz Vanessa Hudson ahead of marketing queen Olivia Wirth