A name almost synonymous with the Qantas brand, the airline CEO of 15 years, Alan Joyce is all set to retire in November 2023, with Vanessa Hudson, another Qantas stalwart taking up the role as the new CEO. Hudson is currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer of Qantas.
Vanessa Hudson, joined Qantas in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor and now is on the Qantas board as CEO-designate. She will be the airline's 13th CEO in its 103-year history and will take over the role following this year's Annual General Meeting in November 2023.
Excited to take on the new challenge, Hudson said: ""It's an absolute honour to be asked to lead the national carrier. This is an exceptional company full of incredibly talented people and it's very well positioned for the future. My focus will be delivering for those we rely on and who rely on us - our customers, our employees, our shareholders and the communities we serve."
Her career in Qantas spans around different senior management roles like finance, catering, inflight services, sales and distribution and commercial planning, plus a stint as senior vice president for the Americas and New Zealand. She will continue in her current role as Group Chief Financial Officer until her succession. She took up the role as the CFO in 2019 just at the onset of the pandemic at times when the airline went through its worse financial crisis.
Commenting on the appointment Richard Goyder, Chairman, Qantas said: “The appointment of Hudson came after a rigorous selection process and allows for a smooth transition from current CEO Alan Joyce. "A lot of thought has gone into this succession and the Board had a number of high-quality candidates to consider, both internally and externally.”
Praising Hudson for her work, Goyder added: “Vanessa has a deep understanding of this business after almost three decades in a range of roles both onshore and offshore, across commercial, customer and finance. She has a huge amount of airline experience and she's an outstanding leader."
Although the rumours of Joyce retirement circled around occasionally, usually surfacing during the crisis hours, this is the first time that Qantas has officially announced the succession plan.
Interestingly Joyce has steered Qantas through the pandemic crisis, grounding of the fleet, dealing with the post-pandemic pressure, the job-cuts, global recession and financial crisis and taking all the criticism head-on. About a year back, Qantas was dealing with its worst-ever debts, but since then Joyce and his team have turned the situation around for the airline.
Joyce will have a record of retiring with the largest profit in the history of Qantas and an airline set up for even more success, both financially and operationally, with Project Sunrise taking off in the next few months.
Naturally Chairman Goyder was all praises for Joyce. He said: "Much of the credit for the bright future in front of Qantas goes to Alan. Today Qantas has a clear strategy, strong balance sheet and record profitability that supports a pipeline of investment for customers, opportunities for our people and returns to shareholders."
"At the Board's request, I extended my time as CEO to see through the COVID recovery plan, so now that we're on the other side of that crisis it's a logical time for me to step down," said Joyce announcing his retirement. "There's still a lot I want to deliver in the next six months and at the top of that list is ensuring a smooth handover to Vanessa, who I'm sure will excel in the role."