SYDNEY - Qantas Airways named Ms Vanessa Hudson as its first female chief executive, handing her the task of rebuilding the 103-year-old airline’s battered reputation.
Ms Hudson, who has worked at Qantas for almost three decades and is currently chief financial officer, will assume the top job in November.
CEO Alan Joyce, one of aviation’s longest-serving and highest-profile leaders, is stepping down after 15 years in the role.
Mr Joyce is famed for turning around one of Australia’s most iconic brands at least twice and enriching shareholders. But he leaves behind a divisive legacy after a series of employee cuts over the past decade, straining ties with union leaders. Most recently, he slashed more than 8,000 jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ms Hudson, 53, will be handed an airline delivering record profits amid surging demand for air travel in the wake of Covid-19. But she also inherits bruised relations with passengers fed up with pandemic-related cancellations, delays, lost luggage and high ticket prices.
Qantas shares dropped 2.97 per cent to A$6.54 on Tuesday, valuing the airline at about A$12 billion (S$10.7 billion).
Ms Hudson started with Qantas in 1994 as an internal auditor before becoming catering product manager three years later. She has since held leadership positions in commercial planning and sales and distribution.
She was the airline’s chief customer officer before the pandemic.
Chairman Richard Goyder said Ms Hudson beat almost 40 other candidates from around the world, most of them men.
Ultimately, it came down to a choice between Ms Hudson and Ms Olivia Wirth, the head of Qantas’ loyalty business, he said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Ms Hudson – seated alongside Mr Goyder and Mr Joyce – was peppered with questions about how she would fix the airline’s broken bonds with unions, staff and travellers.
“I’m coming into this position valuing the contribution that our people make every day,” said Ms Hudson. “I’m really looking forward to meeting the unions.”
A top priority, she said, was taking care of customers.
Underscoring Ms Hudson’s challenge, Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine simultaneously issued a statement warning that she faced an uphill challenge to rebuild the company.
“The new CEO must turn Qantas in a new direction away from the dismantling of standards it has seen for the last decade and a half,” said Mr Kaine. “Our door is open.”
The earlier-than-expected succession announcement allows Mr Joyce to hand over the reins over a six-month period. Mr Goyder had previously said Mr Joyce would remain in charge until at least the end of 2023.
On Tuesday, Mr Joyce singled out Ms Hudson’s leadership skills and said he would have retired years ago if it had not been for Covid-19.
Ms Hudson had not hidden her ambitions to lead the airline.
She put her hand up for the role in an interview with Bloomberg Television in March.
“If the board were to give me the opportunity to step into Alan’s shoes, I would be incredibly honoured and proud,” she said at the time. BLOOMBERG
