Qantas cuts executive bonuses by 15% over cyber hack
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The cut reduced Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson’s short-term bonus by A$250,000 for the year.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
Bengaluru – Australia’s Qantas Airways has cut short-term bonuses for its top executives and chief executive officer by 15 per cent in fiscal 2025 after a cyber hack earlier this year exposed millions of customer records.
In July, the country’s flag carrier said a hacker targeted its call centre and accessed a database containing six million names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and frequent flyer numbers.
“While we recognise that the investigations into this incident may not be finalised for some time... it is important for both our executives and shareholders that the remuneration consequences of this incident be dealt with this year,” Qantas’ annual report showed on Sept 5
The cut reduced CEO Vanessa Hudson’s short-term bonus by A$250,000 (S$210,000) for the year ended June 30. However, her total pay still climbed to A$6.31 million, up from A$4.4 million a year ago.
The airline’s five executive managers lost a combined A$550,000.
“This decision demonstrates our commitment to creating a culture of accountability and ownership,” Qantas chair John Mullen said in the annual report. He acknowledged that management took immediate action to contain the breach and support customers, but said the pay cuts reflected the seriousness of the incident.
Qantas’ profit for the year ended June jumped 15 per cent to A$2.4 billion on the back of sustained post-pandemic recovery in domestic travel and improved macroeconomic conditions. REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
