Qantas Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director, Alan Joyce, received a 15% pay rise this year, notching up his pay scale from $1.98 million to $2.27 million as per Qantas annual report.
During the last two years, Joyce voluntarily took a cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not receive a bonus this year, as the scheme was suspended and will not return until next year.
Qantas board has decided to rejig the pay packages of Joyce and other senior executives so that short-term bonuses better reflect customer service and the airline’s reputation, the report said.
Jacqueline Hey, chair of the board’s remuneration committee said: “Qantas needs to do more to deliver the service our customers expect. The new bonus scheme will prioritize a combination of key operational measures like punctuality and reliability of our airlines, customer satisfaction, and the group’s reputation and trust, to align executive incentive outcomes to our customers’ experience.”
Praising Alan Joyce for his work during the pandemic, Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said: “The pay packets were key to keeping the considerable talent in the executive team. The future payouts are based on delivering the recovery in full. Managing an airline through a pandemic is incredibly difficult and few have emerged with the underlying strength that Qantas has. That's an absolute credit to Alan Joyce and his team, though the full impact of what's been achieved will be best judged a few years from now when new aircraft are arriving, new routes are opening up with lots of opportunities for our people.”
Further commenting on the recent spate of events circling Qantas, Goyder added: “'The restart has been bumpy which reflects how difficult it is to bring an airline out of hibernation at the same time as dealing with record rates of Covid in the community.”
He then went on to apologise to the customers amidst the wave of criticism.
Both Qantas and its budget subsidiary, Jetstar, have been plagued by delays, cancellations and other problems as air travel bounced back from the pandemic this year with an ongoing enquiry from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Going ahead, more bonuses are, worth between $900,000 and $1.2 million are planned this year provided Qantas' COVID-19 recovery plan is achieved, the report added.