{"id":30090,"date":"2023-05-02T08:26:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T08:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lynettelockhart.com\/client\/qantas-to-appoint-cfo\/"},"modified":"2023-05-02T08:40:29","modified_gmt":"2023-05-02T08:40:29","slug":"qantas-picks-first-female","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lynettelockhart.com\/client\/qantas-picks-first-female\/","title":{"rendered":"Qantas picks first female CEO as Alan Joyce prepares to depart"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Praveen Menon and Roushni Nair<\/p>\n

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia’s flagship carrier, Qantas Airways Ltd, on Tuesday named finance chief Vanessa Hudson as its next chief executive officer, making her the first woman to lead the century-old airline. <\/p>\n

Hudson will in November take over from Alan Joyce, whose 15 years in the job has made him one of the longest-serving current CEO of a major Australian company, and a high-profile figure in the global aviation industry.<\/p>\n

Hudson will be one of the few female executives leading a major company in Australia, although rival carrier Virgin Australia also has a woman as its CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka.<\/p>\n

“I come with an understanding of this organization that is very deep,” Hudson told reporters in her first news conference as CEO designate.<\/p>\n

“I think that the experience that I’ve had, and also recently, in helping manage through COVID, places me in a great position to look forward in terms of all of the investments that are coming with new aircraft, but also continuing to invest in our customers,” she said.<\/p>\n

Hudson inherits an airline that is delivering record profits as travel rebounds. But she will also need to fix a reputational crisis facing the flying kangaroo, as passengers are frustrated with delays, cancellations, lost baggage and staffing issues. <\/p>\n

Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder said Hudson’s handling of the finance and treasury portfolio during the COVID crisis put her ahead of almost 40 candidates globally that the airline had short-listed for the job.<\/p>\n

Qantas shares were down 2.4% on Tuesday against a broader market decline of 0.25%.<\/p>\n

“Vanessa has been market-facing as CFO since October 2019, which will have prepared her well for the very public role as Qantas CEO,” RBC Capital Markets analyst Owen Birrell said in a note.<\/p>\n

Hudson joined Qantas 28 years ago and has held several senior roles there, including CFO, chief customer officer and senior vice president for the Americas and New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Though men still account for far more top executive roles in Australian-listed companies, a growing number of high-profile CEO roles are occupied by women, including at the No. 1 investment bank, Macquarie Group, top telco Telstra Corp, oil and gas giant Woodside and financial services firm AMP.<\/p>\n

Hudson said she was proud to lead the airline. <\/p>\n

“On a personal note, I have two young daughters, 21 and 18, and I’ve always been a mother who’s wanted to lead by example and to listening to their reflections last night was incredibly meaningful to me,” she said.<\/p>\n

SUCCESSION PLANS<\/p>\n

Joyce, 56, served as Qantas CEO during turbulent times and is credited with navigating the airline through the 2008 financial crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, fluctuating fuel prices, and a bruising market share battle with Virgin Australia domestically and international rivals such as Emirates and Etihad Airways. <\/p>\n

Hudson said the airline has been working to rebuild trust among its customers. She will also work on building ties with the unions, who have had a poor and often bitter relationship with Joyce. <\/p>\n

Joyce hired bodyguards in 2011 after receiving death threats over his unprecedented grounding of the airline\u2019s entire fleet during an industrial dispute.<\/p>\n

The announcement is a golden opportunity for a reset at Qantas, Transport Workers\u2019 Union (TWU) National Secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Qantas swung to a record first-half profit from a loss this year, as raging travel demand from a population shaking off years of pandemic restrictions jacked up fares and profits. <\/p>\n

Joyce, who is gay, has been a vocal supporter of campaigns for marriage equality, the recognition of Aboriginal people in the nation\u2019s constitution and for women\u2019s progress in the corporate world.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s not many female CEOs in the worldwide aviation industry, and it’s a credit to this country that a gay man was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company, and now we have the first female accredited to the board,\u201d Joyce said at the news conference. <\/p>\n

Joyce said he and his husband would stay in Sydney, focus on community involvement and look forward to other opportunities that may come up.<\/p>\n

Qantas said Hudson would continue in her current role until taking over as Qantas’ 13th CEO at the 2023 annual general meeting.<\/p>\n

($1 = 1.5088 Australian dollars)<\/p>\n

(Additional reporting by Byron Kaye and Roushni Nair; Editing by Maju Samuel and Gerry Doyle)<\/p>\n

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