Alan Joyce says changing Qantas’ culture and making it financially powerful his proudest achievements

Love him or loath him – and he’s certainly not a favourite of unions – Alan Joyce will leave an indelible mark on Qantas when he steps down as chief executive in November.

In his almost 15 years at the helm of Qantas, Alan Joyce has undeniably made his mark.

From the 2011 grounding of the airline to halt three-way industrial action, to the ambitious Project Sunrise flights, Mr Joyce will be remembered as much for his combative relationship with unions as his determination to bring Australia within one flight of the rest of the world.

Speaking after the announcement chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson would succeed Mr Joyce as CEO in November, he said his now confirmed departure was “bittersweet”.

“Qantas is a big part of your life when you’re in it for that length of time,” Mr Joyce said.

“It’s an iconic brand. I will miss the company, miss the people. Hopefully I’ll keep in contact with a lot of the people there but at the same time I’m excited about future opportunities.”

In the meantime there would be time for much reflection about Mr Joyce’s legacy at Qantas and on Tuesday he was happy to expand on what he saw as his key achievements.

Firstly there was cultural change in the organisation from the top down, that resulted in a more collaborative approach to decision making.

Mr Joyce said bringing together a team of “can do” people such as Ms Hudson, Olivia Wirth, (ex-Jetstar chief) Gareth Evans and (current Jetstar chief) Stephanie Tully changed Qantas dramatically.

“The results of that cultural change meant we were able to transform the company from where it was 15 years ago,” Mr Joyce said.

Along the way, Mr Joyce said his team “democratised air travel” with low-fares carrier Jetstar, and made Qantas domestic the best premium short-haul airline.

As a result of its investment in product, Qantas saw off competitors and watched as Virgin Australia collapsed trying to compete with the flying kangaroo.

“Our product was so far ahead of the competition that our competition just decided they couldn’t compete in that sector and actually went bankrupt because of where they were,” he said.

Alan Joyce with the woman who will replace him as chief executive, Vanessa Hudson. Picture: Gaye Gerard

The juggernaut frequent flyer scheme was another great source of pride for Mr Joyce, who credited the growth in membership and earnings during his tenure to the “amazing work of Lesley Grant and then Liv (Wirth)”.

Perhaps his proudest achievement, however, was the turnaround of Qantas International which was previously one part of the airline that was consistently unprofitable.

“We spent years talking about closing it down, hiving it off because we couldn’t seem to come up with a fix,” Mr Joyce said.

“Then the fix we came up with the amazing Emirates (codeshare) deal and the amazing long-haul flights from Perth to London, and we’ve got Sunrise coming.”

“We got to a stage where it is going to return its cost to capital everywhere and it’s returning way above its cost to capital today, and we’re making massive investments that 15 years ago we never thought we’d be able to today.”

Although unions would not be sorry to see Mr Joyce go, former chairman Leigh Clifford said during his time at Qantas, the board’s greatest fear was that Mr Joyce would be headhunted.

“I was there 11 years and Qantas was a good airline. To be honest I reckon he made it a great airline,” Mr Clifford said.

“He was an extremely well regarded CEO and he’s put the business into great shape.”

Mr Joyce’s predecessor, Geoff Dixon, also sang his praises, saying he would be remembered for making Qantas a “very resilient company”.

“It’s come out of the pandemic when many airlines couldn’t make it, in very good shape,” Mr Dixon said.

“There’s a bit of a pile on at the moment about planes being late and not having enough planes but I think they’ve done a terrific job to get it back to the position it’s in now.”

In terms of what might be next for Mr Joyce, he said he planned to stay in Sydney with husband Shane Lloyd, and was “excited about future opportunities”.

Mr Clifford said the pair had discussed Mr Joyce’s future and would only say “he’s got a lot of options”.