Qantas has held former chief executive Alan Joyce partially responsible for an erosion of the airline’s relationship with its regulators and customers.
As a result, he has been docked more than A$9 million after leaving
the airline in September 2023 with a potential A$23.6 million salary and
incentives pay-out.
A review by McKinsey found the group’s management contributed to a
series of failures that resulted in “considerable harm to its
relationships with customers, employees and other stakeholders”.
The Qantas board, who initiated the review, has also reduced the
short-term bonuses of all other current and former executives who were
part of the leadership team last year by one third.
McKinsey found Qantas centralised decisions and overly relied on
Joyce to make decisions, resulting in a top-down culture which impacted
empowerment and a willingness to challenge or ‘speak up’ on issues or
decisions of concern.
“While there were no findings of deliberate wrongdoing, the review
found that mistakes were made by the Board and management which
contributed to the group’s significant reputational and customer service
issues,” the company said in a statement.