Qantas CEO Alan Joyce’s Annual Remuneration Jumps Tenfold Amid Controversies

Qantas revealed that she paid Alan Joyce, its former CEO who took early retirement at the beginning of the month, an annual remuneration of 21.4 million Australian dollars (US$13.8 million) for fiscal year 2023, a tenfold increase from the previous year.

A sum considered indecent by the unions while the Australian airline, under the management of Alan Joyce, had “illegally dismissed” some 1,700 employees during the Covid pandemic to replace them with outsourced staff. Indeed, the High Court of Australia ruled last week that Qantas had dismissed 1,700 ground staff employees without valid reason during the Covid-19 pandemic, opening the way to penalties and remedial measures.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU), which took Qantas to court over the layoffs, welcomed the decision and called for the Australian airline’s board to be replaced. Faced with the controversy, Qantas added that part of the remuneration of its former CEO could be the subject of restitution requests “if the board of directors considered it necessary“.

Among other hot issues inherited from Alan Joyce, Qantas management is suspected of having put pressure on the Canberra government to prevent Qatar Airways from offering more flights to Australia. Additionally, the Australian airline is accused of selling 8,000 plane tickets for flights that had already been canceled during the pandemic.