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Qantas boss Alan Joyce received a round of applause from sharemarket types when he delivered his final profit as chief executive last week, but the divisive CEO received a far frostier reception at a parliamentary hearing on Monday.<\/p>\n
The inquiry was about the cost of living, and Joyce had been summoned last week to make his first appearance before the Senate in 14 years.<\/p>\n
The grilling Joyce endured was fierce, with questioning significantly more venomous than the standard fare most CEOs often endure.<\/p>\n
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Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce on Monday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Eamon Gallagher<\/cite><\/p>\n It turned into a full-blown interrogation of Joyce over issues spanning from aviation regulation to whether Qantas had granted the prime minister\u2019s son a membership of the exclusive Chairman\u2019s Lounge, to the airline\u2019s reputation with the public.<\/p>\n The aggressive questioning revolved around the litany of complaints surrounding Qantas.<\/p>\n Labor senator Tony Sheldon, a former head of the Transport Workers\u2019 Union and long-time critic of Joyce, was particularly forceful. He fired questions at Joyce over issues including the airline\u2019s handling of unused credits for flights that were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic; Qantas\u2019 industrial arrangements with staff; and the damage to its corporate reputation from cancellations.<\/p>\n He put it to Joyce the company was the \u201cmost discredited\u201d in Australia and wanted to know if this had been raised by the Qantas board.<\/p>\n Joyce dug in, defending the airline and at one point telling Sheldon: \u201cThe facts that you\u2019re raising are wrong. And senator, I know you\u2019re getting a bit worked up, but please … give us the privilege of just not interrupting every few minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Late in proceedings \u2013 which were extended for half an hour \u2013 committee chair, the Liberal senator Jane Hume, intervened to tell Sheldon he was using a \u201cslightly aggressive tone\u201d.<\/p>\n Most of the topics traversed have been covered by Qantas before, and Joyce unsurprisingly stuck to his previous positions.<\/p>\n He expects airfares will fall significantly after airlines ramp up capacity. He would not comment on reports Qantas had given the prime minister\u2019s son a Chairman\u2019s Lounge membership. And he acknowledged Qantas had opposed a request by Qatar Airways to sharply increase the number of flights it flew to Australia, although he would not reveal what he had said to government ministers about this.<\/p>\n The government recently rejected the Qatar Airways request, and Joyce backed the decision on grounds of protecting the national interest.<\/p>\n Senators appeared particularly keen to explore the Qatar rejection, no doubt partly because of comments from Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who on Monday was quoted as saying the record $2.5 billion profit from Qantas last week was a \u201cgood news story\u201d.<\/p>\n Late on Monday, Jones\u2019 office was directing media questions about these comments to Transport Minister Catherine King.<\/p>\n But the remarks attributed to Jones appear to suggest the government blocked Qatar from putting on extra flights at least partly because it wanted to keep the local players \u201csustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n Jones\u2019 comments certainly didn\u2019t do Joyce any favour at the inquiry, and while he argued it was common for governments to make decisions such as this, it is a tough message for him and the Albanese government to sell.<\/p>\n The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion.<\/i><\/b> Sign up to get it every weekday morning<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\nMost Viewed in Business<\/h2>\n
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