Qantas is holding its annual general meeting in Tasmania today as the airline looks to resurrect its tarnished reputation.
Category
đź“ş
TVTranscript
00:00Well, we've heard from the Chairman John Mullen and also the CEO, Vanessa Hudson, and their
00:06message has really been around the rebuilding of Qantas's damaged brand. So the Chairman
00:13said there was no pretending that Qantas had been through a very difficult period over
00:17recent years. That, of course, was an allusion to some of those controversies and scandals
00:23that we've seen in the headlines, things like the illegal sacking of 1700 workers back at
00:28the height of the pandemic in 2020. That'll end up costing the airline at least $100 million
00:34in compensation. And there was also the selling of tickets to thousands of customers for flights
00:41that had already been cancelled. And that resulted in a settlement with the ACCC worth
00:46around $120 million. So the Chairman said that those challenges were being comprehensively
00:53dealt with by management. He said the airline had turned a corner, that it had learned from
00:59its mistakes, that it was righting the wrongs of the past. And he said he wants to rebuild
01:04the reputation of Qantas as one of the leading airlines in the world. And interestingly,
01:10he also, at the end of his speech, praised both the former Chairman, Richard Goyder,
01:16and also the former CEO, Alan Joyce, for their role in helping steer the company through
01:21that very difficult time during the pandemic. So here is a little bit of what the Chairman
01:27had to say today.
01:29As a board, we are deeply committed to ensuring that Qantas resumes its place as again being
01:34seen as one of the truly great airlines of the world, that we are again recognised as
01:39a leader in customer experience, and that we rebuild trust and pride with our outstanding
01:44employees all around the world.
01:48So Jarno, what else is expected at the AGM today?
01:51Well Kat, there are a number of resolutions that are on the agenda, and one of them relates
01:57to the remuneration or the bonuses for the executives. Now, you might recall last year
02:02it was a very hostile AGM, where more than 80% of shareholders rejected the proposed
02:09remuneration package for management last year. They deemed that to be far too excessive at
02:14a time when the reputation of the airline was taking such a big hit. Now this time around,
02:20if more than 25% of shareholders reject the current proposed remuneration package, that'll
02:26be considered a second strike and would then result in a motion to spill the board. Now
02:34that's something we'll keep an eye out on, but certainly most analysts don't think there
02:39will be a spill of the board based on what happens here today.
02:43Okay, and Jarno, we know that this meeting is coinciding with industrial action by our
02:47Qantas engineers today. What sort of impact is that having?
02:53Well certainly Qantas says it has contingencies in place to ensure there's no disruption
02:57to its customers across its network, but we do know that there's some 400 to 600 engineers
03:04with the airline who are striking two four-hour strikes today, one in the morning and one
03:11later on in the day. And those engineers are looking for a 25% pay rise over the next
03:18three years. And we heard from the board chairman a short time ago and he said that the airline
03:24was looking for a balanced outcome and that it was happy to sit down in good faith to
03:29reach a compromise with those unions that are representing the engineers that are striking
03:34today.