Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce called to resign after apology to customers

There are calls for Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to resign after fierce backlash to his apology to loyal customers hit by cancellations and delays.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has called on Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce to resign, after this airline’s apology fell on deaf ears.

On Sunday, the embattled airline announced they would be offering frequent flyers a $50 travel credit for a return flight of their choosing.

Mr Joyce also issued an apology to customers, acknowledging that “the return to flying hasn’t gone smoothly”. He also announced that the airline had recruited 1500 staff since April and has adjusted rosters and schedules to overcome a 50 per cent jump in employees taking sick leave.

“Over the past few months too many of you have had flights delayed, flights cancelled or bags misplaced,” Mr Joyce said in a video, which will be directed to customers in an email on Monday.

“There are good reasons why, but when it comes to what you expect from Qantas, it’s not good enough.”

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Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce apologised to customers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / John Gass.

However, the Union National Secretary, Michael Kaine lashed the decision, labelling the move as “Alan Joyce at his absolute worst”. Instead he called on the CEO to resign.

“No, what’s needed is Alan Joyce to resign and for the federal government to put in place a safe and secure skies commission and an independent body that can make decisions in aviation in the publics interest,” he told ABC radio on Monday morning.

“You can’t buy off forgiveness, what you’ve got is a company that has been smashing workers for years now, most recently when it outsourced nearly 2,000 workers during the pandemic, you know we could really have done with those 2,000 experienced workers when we were trying to get aviation back up and running,” he said.

Time to end the illegal conduct & the dictatorial management @qantas. The sooner we move to a post-Joyce @qantas the sooner we can start restoring good service and good jobs at the airline formerly known “The Spirit of Australia” https://t.co/FBEHDvpHm7

— Michael Kaine (@TWUMichaelKaine) August 20, 2022

Earlier this month, the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association (ALAEA) announced that more than 700 aircraft engineers from Qantas and Jetstar were planning to stop work for “one-minute” in late August.

The industrial action was in response to demands of a 12 per cent pay rise to make up for stagnant wages the last four years.

The ALAEA’s federal secretary Steve Purvinas said the ”token” action was an example of the union’s “willingness to negotiate in good faith”.

“We do want to give some time for resolution of these matters before we have to do anything that may even be close to disrupting the public,” he said.

However, Mr Purvinas added that “alternative labour provisions” would be made in the advent of further action.

“We want to assure the public that we won’t be harming their services,” he added.

“Our target is the airlines who are not negotiating in good faith.”

The calls for Mr Joyce’s resignation comes after months of increased flight cancellations. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled.

According to federal government data, the airline lost $1.2 billion in the first half of the 2022 financial year, with multiple Covid lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne to blame.

Staffing shortages due to Covid-19 and flu cases has also created challenges for the airline, leading to a request from the airline to ask senior executives and managers to step down from their usual roles to assist ground staff.

However, Mr Joyce said that cancellations between June to July have dropped from 8.1 per cent to 6.5 per cent.

“We’re already seeing a sustained improvement in baggage handling and on-time performance and while factors out of our control like weather can have an impact on our schedule, we expect things to keep improving each week,” Mr Joyce said.