Qantas has announced its chairman Richard Goyder will quit – although he will remain at the helm of the embattled airline for another year.

Qantas said on Wednesday that Goyder would retire before next year’s annual meeting, due in late 2024.

“As a board, we acknowledge the significant reputational and customer service issues facing the group and recognise that accountability is required to restore trust,” Goyder said.

“Qantas has gone through an incredibly difficult period since our operation was grounded during the pandemic. The recovery has not been easy, and mistakes were made. We again apologise for those times where we got it wrong.”

There has been pressure on Goyder to step down for months, as Qantas has remained embroiled in several scandals.

There have been questions over the airline’s COVID flight credits, its role in the federal government’s decision to deny rival Qatar Airways extra flights to key Australian capital cities and – most crucially – a High Court ruling that it illegally sacked more than 1700 workers at the height of the pandemic.

Until Wednesday, Goyder had refused to budge, maintaining he had the confidence of the airline’s biggest shareholders.

“While I retain that confidence, I’ll get to work and do the things we need to do to deal with some of the issues we’ve got at the moment,” he told the ABC three weeks ago.

“The latest read I’ve got is that people want me to continue to do the role.”

Former chief executive Alan Joyce pulled the plug on his tenure as Qantas CEO on September 5, two months before he was officially due to depart following its 2023 annual meeting in November.

However, questions remained about the $21.4 million annual salary package paid to Joyce in the 2022-2023 financial year.

In addition, just days earlier the Australian Competition and Consumer Watchdog had launched action in the Federal Court alleging Qantas engaged in false and misleading conduct by advertising tickets for flights it had already cancelled.

The ACCC accuses the airline of selling tickets on 8000 cancelled flights that had been due to depart between May and July 2022.

Two weeks ago, a defiant Goyder appeared at a senate inquiry into the aviation industry, repeating his view that he had the confidence of Qantas’s big shareholders.

Joyce has also been summonsed before the inquiry – although he reportedly remains overseas.

On Wednesday, Qantas revealed Goyder’s 12-month plan to stand down as it flagged “plans for board renewal in recognition of the reputational issues facing the group”.

Goyder said he had always sought to act in the business’s best interests.

“Measured and orderly succession at board level will support the important work underway led by [new CEO Vanessa Hudson] and her new management team,” he said.

“Fundamentally, the group is in a very strong position to overcome its current challenges and deliver for all its stakeholders in the years ahead.”

In other changes, non-executive director Michael L’Estrange will retire at this year’s AGM on November 3. That had been announced in May.

“To facilitate further renewal, Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire at the Qantas half-year results in February 2024, after 10 years of service,” Qantas said.

“As planned, three new directors will offer themselves for election at this year’s AGM (Doug Parker, Dr Heather Smith, and Joyce’s replacement as CEO and managing director Vanessa Hudson), as well as two existing directors (Todd Sampson and Belinda Hutchinson).”

Qantas said its board had also begun independently reviewing key governance issues. It intended to “share outcomes” in mid-2024.