Qantas International chief Alison Webster to depart in a fortnight

Alan Joyce has noted “positive momentum” in Qantas’ international arm as head flags April exit.

Outgoing Qantas International CEO Alison Webster.

The ranks of internal candidates, especially female executives, who may eventually replace long-serving Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce is thinning after the shock resignation of Qantas International head Alison Webster.

The airline announced yesterday that Ms Webster would leave the company in less than a fortnight after only being appointed to the role 18 months ago, reducing the number of women in executive leadership roles.

No explanation was given for her departure. In a brief memo to Qantas staff after the announcement was made to the Australian Securities Exchange, Mr Joyce said Ms Webster’s last day at the airline would be April 24.

Mr Joyce said the management reshuffle upon her resignation came at a time when the international arm of Qantas was showing some improvement.

Qantas is now looking for a replacement for Ms Webster and has appointed a caretaker.

“Effective immediately, Naren Kumar will lead Qantas International until a permanent appointment is made. “As many of you know, Naren was CFO of Qantas International for several years until recently taking on a role overseeing the key changes to our long-haul fleet,” Mr Joyce wrote in the staff memo viewed by The Australian.

“There is a lot of positive momentum in Qantas International at the moment, as there is across the group, and I appreciate everyone’s continued hard work to support this.”

Ms Webster had held the role since November 2017 after joining Qantas in 2004 as head of Qantas cabin crew.

She was not modest in her ambitions to become one day the chief executive of Qantas, saying in an interview in early 2018 that she aspired to the role.

“Without a doubt, I would aspire to be Alan’s successor,” she told a Nine Network newspaper.

“I’m also very clear — I’m only four months into the new role. But if I had a dream job, then that’s my spot on the wall. And he (Mr Joyce) knows that.”

Ms Webster joined Qantas as head of cabin crew in 2004, to later switch to head of international customer experience in 2010. She oversaw Qantas’ freight division from 2014.

The international division is considered one of the most challenging areas of the airline due to the high level of competition and, in recent years, soaring fuel costs.

In the first half of 2019, Qantas International’s earnings before interest and tax declined $134 million to $90m, which was sheeted home to a $219m increase in the cost of fuel. Ms Webster’s departure leaves the Qantas management team with three women and eight men.

In 2017 Qantas’s executive ranks was rocked by the resignation of the highly talented Jayne Hrdlicka who decided to leave the airline industry to sign on as the new chief executive of dairy producer a2 Milk.

Ms Hrdlicka was the boss of Qantas’s loyalty division and the former chief executive of its budget carrier Jetstar.