Alan Joyce to Become Qantas CEO

Source: China Daily    Author:    07/29/2008

Subject Concerned: Airlines   Human Resource   

Qantas Airways Ltd, Australia's biggest airline, said Alan Joyce, the head of its discount unit Jetstar, will become chief executive officer when Geoff Dixon retires in November.

Joyce will join the board immediately, Sydney-based Qantas said in a statement to the stock exchange on Jul. 28. The 42-year-old has been with Qantas since 2000 and has spent the past 20 years in the airline industry, including time at Ansett and Aer Lingus.

Joyce takes over an airline that is retiring older aircraft and cutting jobs and routes to cope with an almost doubling of fuel prices in the past year. Qantas, which controls about two-thirds of the Australian market, this month said it will axe 4 percent of workers and cancel plans to hire 1,200 additional staff.

"Alan is, we believe, the best person to take Qantas forward in what is a very challenging environment," Chairman Leigh Clifford said in the statement. "Geoff and Alan will work together over the next four months to ensure a smooth transition and continuity."

Dublin-born Joyce, who has both Australian and Irish citizenship, started Jetstar in May 2004 as Qantas sought to stem the loss of market share to second-ranked Virgin Blue Holdings Ltd.

The unit represents about 10 percent of the airline's total sales and is the fastest growing part of the business in profits, with a four-fold increase in the first-half ended on Dec 31.

Earnings at Qantas will drop about 59 percent in the year ending June 2009 according to the median estimate of five analysts.

Photograph: Qantas Airways Ltd Chief Executive Geoff Dixon (right) and Jetstar CEO Alan Joyce (left) hold a model of a Jetstar passenger jet at a press conference in Melbourne [Bloomberg News].