But who’s waiting in the wings
After 14 years, $13.8m payday for Alan Joyce
THE Qantas board will face questions about the airline’s chief executive succession plan at its AGM on Friday as shareholders are asked to approve a potential $13.8m payday for Alan Joyce.
Australian Shareholders Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse said they were interested in what Qantas’s succession plan looked like, after 14 years with Mr Joyce.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has previously said Mr Joyce is expected to leave by the end of 2023 after overseeing the airline’s recovery from the brutal pandemic.
“The succession plan is important from a confidence perspective for shareholders,” Ms Waterhouse said. “The organisation has been very reliant on one individual for a period of time.
“He’s done really well at several points in time, but retail investors will want to know who is in the wings and who can deliver the targets going forwards.”
Qantas has a history of promoting from within, and the airline was not expected to advertise externally.
Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson is the only executive who has publicly put up her hand. Other possible contenders include Qantas Loyalty boss Olivia Wirth, and Qantas chief customer officer Steph Tully, who was recently announced as the next Jetstar chief executive, replacing Gareth Evans. Mr Evans had been considered a contender for the top job, but the widely held belief was that the next chief executive would be a woman, Qantas’s first female chief executive.
Mr Joyce headed Jetstar before his promotion in November 2008.
Shareholders will be asked to vote on his participation in a retention recovery plan and the long-term incentive scheme that will help deliver a $13.8m sendoff for the chief executive.
Ms Waterhouse said the ASA had recommended members vote in favour of the bonuses, as well as the remuneration report, which delivered most senior executives healthy pay rises.
“The key things for us is that Qantas is rebuilding its business into a sustainable business given the impact of the Covid pandemic, and the recovery program and the remuneration is intended to reward executives to make sure they attain the company’s targets and maintain them,” she said. “They have forgone a lot of remuneration in the last couple of years, and it’s a competitive corporate environment for keeping key executives.”
Major proxy firm ISS recommended shareholders vote against the remuneration report and Mr Joyce’s participation in the recovery retention plan (RRP).
In a report to clients, ISS said the “CEO’S remuneration was set well above the market median”.