Vanessa Hudson is the first female CEO of Qantas
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Tuesday saw the replacement of cost-cutting Irish-Australian Alan Joyce with industry veteran and Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson.

Hudson will succeed Joyce as chief executive and managing director when she steps down in November after 15 years in the position, according to Qantas, which earned a profit late last year after suffering significant losses during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Until then, Hudson, who has spent close to three decades in Qantas’ top ranks, would continue in her position as chief financial officer, the airline company stated.

I’ve been employed by Qantas for 28 years, and I still have the same sense of anticipation I did on my first day,” Hudson said at a press conference.

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“Our position is really favourable. Numerous projects are in the works. The last three years have been tough, she said, so that is not to suggest that they have not been.

The customer’s needs were “absolutely at the centre of everything,” she emphasised, adding that there would be “many challenges ahead.”

In addition to considering her own advancement at Qantas, Hudson said she was “incredibly proud” as a woman to think about “some of the other amazing females that are running very big organisations across Australia and across the globe.”

Defeat of Qantas

Joyce lauded his successor as a “outstanding executive” and stated that he had previously planned to depart Qantas this year.

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He said at the news conference that there weren’t many female CEOs in the global aviation sector.

And it’s a credit to our nation that a gay Irishman was chosen to lead the company 15 years ago. The first female has finally arrived.

In order to address the epidemic, Joyce announced he had extended his tenure as CEO at the board’s request. If Covid did not exist, I would have retired a few years ago.

Following three years of losses totaling Aus$7 billion, caused by the pandemic, Qantas reported a profit of Aus$1.43 billion (US$974 million) before tax in the second half of 2022.

To keep expenses under control at the height of the outbreak, however, Qantas was strongly attacked by union leaders under Joyce for terminating or standing down hundreds of employees.

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The Transport Workers’ Union released a statement saying, “After 15 years of Qantas decline under Alan Joyce’s management, a new CEO has the opportunity to serve the hard-working people who built the spirit of Australia.”

“Courageous management to take Qantas in a new direction” is what current and illegally fired employees deserve.

Customers were also outraged by the airline’s exorbitant prices after lockdowns.

partnership that is productive

According to Qantas, the restructuring was essential to the company’s post-lockdown financial recovery because it saved the airline over $1 billion Australian dollars.

Hudson stated that she was looking forward to meeting with the unions and “developing a constructive relationship”.

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She continued that Qantas has acknowledged the “customer experience was not where we wanted it” during the epidemic up front.

Although the airline had made significant investments to enhance its performance, “we are back to where we were before Covid,” she claimed.

With a defined plan, a solid finance sheet, and record profitability, Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder declared the airline to be “extremely well positioned.”

By mid-afternoon, shares of Qantas were down 2.4 percent.