The Chairman’s Lounge may have protected Qantas chairman Richard Goyder from the airline’s post-COVID customer service chaos, but there was no hiding from the investor fury at his last annual meeting for the airline on Friday.
“It’s clear there has been a substantial loss of trust in the national carrier. And we understand why,” he assured shareholders.
But all the apologies in the world were not going to protect Goyder and his board from the invidious position they created for themselves.
Ad guru Todd Sampson scraped through with his re-election to the Qantas board despite a strong protest vote. Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Even at the meeting, Goyder could not hide his admiration for the chief executive under whose watch this mess unfolded: Alan Joyce.
“He guided this company through some of the biggest challenges, which meant making some tough decisions,” Goyder said in his opening speech.
But as one investor pointed out, this raises an obvious question. Given the laudatory comments for Joyce, and his now-departed loyalty boss Olivia Wirth, how are shareholders and employees meant to be reassured that there is a real intent to reset customer and employee relationships as promised?
All the apologies in the world were not going to protect Goyder and his board from the invidious position they created for themselves.
And how could investors pass a remuneration report detailing the multimillion-dollar payouts to a CEO who had presided over the airline illegally sacking baggage handlers and trashing its brand?
Goyder has not helped by staying on when the full scale of the airline’s woes became apparent.
Qantas mea culpa fails to fly with investors
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03.11.2023
The Chairman’s Lounge may have protected Qantas chairman Richard Goyder from the airline’s post-COVID customer service chaos, but there was no hiding from the investor fury at his last annual meeting for the airline on Friday.
“It’s clear there has been a substantial loss of trust in the national carrier. And we understand why,” he assured shareholders.
But all the apologies in the world were........
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