‘We have turned a corner’: Qantas boss says airline is winning back the hearts of customers

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson has told investors at its annual meeting in Hobart that the embattled airline is succeeding in its campaign to win back the hearts of customers as the airline assured travellers that a strike by hundreds of its engineers would not disrupt services.

“I acknowledge we do not always get it right” Hudson said in her address to shareholders. “But the feedback from customers and what we hear when travelling suggests we have turned the corner.”

Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson is now dealing with compensation claims for illegally sacked employees but says the airline is winning over customers.Credit: Eamon Gallagher

It follows a controversial year that included a $120 million settlement with the ACCC after misleading customers by selling tickets on cancelled flights, and a court decision this week that will result in the group paying as much as $100 million in compensation for illegally sacking 1700 ground handlers during the pandemic.

“There is no pretending that last year was anything other than a very difficult year for Qantas,” chairman John Mullen told investors. However, he assured investors, the issues responsible for a disastrous year that cost the airline its chairman and the early departure of its former CEO were being comprehensively addressed.

“While in no way shying away from the past, however it is time now to put this period behind us and to move on, to look forward to the future and to focus on the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for Qantas,” Mullen said.

He fended off investor claims that further atonement was needed from the board and executives responsible for its poor governance and illegal behaviour, stating that the board needed to draw a line under the past.

Mullen pointed out he was a new chairman, with a board that is also being refreshed, and a new management team under Hudson which “I think reflects the scale of change that’s taking place in response to that particular issue and the other issues that occurred,” he said.

“There’s a new team now that’s going to take the company forward and right the wrongs of the past.”

Qantas shares hit a record high of $8.03 on Friday morning - up from $4.71 last year - after the airline offered a market update saying trading for the December half-year continued to be in line with expectations.

It said Jetstar’s domestic business was outperforming due to stronger-than-anticipated demand.

But not all investors were happy, with more than 14 per cent of shares voted before the meeting landing against the company’s remuneration report, which accounted for the reduced bonuses for former chief executive like Alan Joyce, and docked pay for board members. However, it was not enough to register a second strike and trigger a spill of the entire board.

Meanwhile, the Electrical Trades Union said hundreds of Qantas engineers were stepping up industrial action across all major Australian airports on Friday, saying workers’ calls for fair pay had been ignored.

“Around 600 line maintenance engineers, responsible for critical tasks like towing and marshalling aircraft and conducting final safety checks before departure, will down tools for two four-hour stoppages across airports including Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart,” the union said.

Qantas said it expected customers would not be affected by planned industrial action.

“We are aware of the industrial action planned by some of our engineering work groups on Friday,” a Qantas spokesman said. “Our teams have worked hard to put contingencies in place and we expect there to be no impact to our customers.

Qantas is trying to present a fresh front to customers, investors and regulators after the exits of former CEO Joyce last year and chairman Richard Goyder before the AGM.

Mullen thanked Joyce and Goyder for their efforts, despite the controversies they oversaw.

“While it is understandable that attention has focused on the unfortunate events of the last year or so, I think it appropriate that I thank both Richard Goyder and Alan Joyce for their tenure and great contributions to the airline,” Mullen said.

“Let us not forget that Alan was CEO for 15 years, and in that time delivered many years of exceptional results to the benefit of shareholders and other stakeholders, and Richard and Alan steered Qantas through the dark and difficult days of COVID during which, without their leadership, Qantas might well have not survived and we might not all be here today.”

A scathing report in August by former McKinsey partner Tom Saar found that the board under Goyder’s reign had failed to challenge Joyce and his “command and control” leadership.

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