‘Without Alan Joyce Qantas may not have survived’ new chair John Mullen tells AGM

Qantas’s new chair has opened the AGM with a thank you to the airline’s controversial previous leaders for keeping the airline going.

New Qantas chair John Mullen has opened his first AGM for the airline with a reminder that without Alan Joyce and Richard Goyder “Qantas might not have survived, and we might not all be here today”.

Being held in Hobart, the AGM is expected to be a less fiery affair than last year’s meeting that saw shareholders vent their fury over reputational damage to the airline.

Mr Mullen’s tributes to the former CEO and chairman came after he acknowledged the “unfortunate events of the last year or so”, and said it was time to “put this period behind us and move on”.

“I think it appropriate that I thank both Richard Goyder and Alan Joyce for their tenure and great contributions to the airline,” said Mr Mullen.

“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.

“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.”

Qantas chair John Mullen. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Aaron Francis

He emphasised the “scale of change” that had occurred in recent months, and highlighted the board with “some new directors already and more to come”, “an outstanding new CEO in Vanessa Hudson” and her “largely new senior management team”.

“As a board we are deeply committed to ensuring that Qantas resumes its place as again being seen as one of the truly great airlines of the world, that we are again recognised as a leader in customer experience, and that we rebuild trust and pride with our outstanding employees around the world,” Mr Mullen said.

He said there was “no pretending that last year was anything other than a very difficult year for Qantas” but he avoided dot pointing the various challenges “that have been widely reported in the press and elsewhere”.

Instead Mr Mullen offered a commitment to “learn from the past, correct mistakes quickly and ethically if they occur, and ensure we earn the trust of all stakeholders”.

“What sets Qantas apart is that it is the national airline of Australia and in some way every Australian owns a little piece of the company, whether actually a shareholder or not,” he said.

“Qantas is part of Australia’s identity, culture and history and everyone that works at Qantas has an obligation to make all Australians proud of their national airline.”

Ms Hudson told the AGM there had been some progress made to return Qantas to its former glory, but there was more that could be done.

She highlighted the investment in customer, the improved operational performance and continuing fleet renewal as evidence of that progress, and touched on sometimes difficult enterprise bargaining negotiations.

“We will not be able to meet some people’s expectations every time,” Ms Hudson said, as engineers embarked on another daylong strike.

“But we are looking for solutions that deliver improvements in pay and conditions for our people, while ensuring we can continue to invest and grow for the long term.”

Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson at the airline’s full year results in Sydney. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Ms Hudson said 2000 new people had been hired in the last year and another 2000 would be employed in 2025, as the airline “continued to grow”.

Before the AGM, Qantas provided a market update to the ASX outlining the strength of the domestic sector which was exceeding guidance provided in August.

Low fares partner Jetstar was performing ahead of expectations due to stronger than anticipated demand, and Qantas Domestic was seeing improvements in load factors and corporate travel year on year.

As a result group domestic revenue per average seat kilometre (RASK) was expected to increase by 3-5 per cent in the first half of the 2025 financial year, above the 2-4 per cent forecast provided in August.

Greater competition on international routes was tipped to see RASK decline 7-10 per cent compared to the same time last year, in line with previous guidance.

Qantas Loyalty was on track to increase underlying earnings before interest and tax by 10 per cent for the full financial year, but the update warned geopolitical events continued to cause volatility in fuel prices.

“Fuel prices would have immediate impact if they were to escalate or de-escalate,” said the update.

At current prices the expected fuel bill for the first half was estimated at $2.55bn, down from the $2.7bn forecast in August.

The update also flagged a “thank you” payment for Qantas’ 27,000 workers of $1000 a person, with the $28m cost to be recognised in the first half.

Originally published as ‘Without Alan Joyce Qantas may not have survived’ new chair John Mullen tells AGM