Qantas chiefs blasted during testy grilling at parliamentary inquiry

The New Daily
Sep 27, 2023, updated Sep 27, 2023

Qantas bosses grilled at Senate hearing

Source: Twitter

Qantas chiefs have copped the ire of Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie at a testy grilling at the parliamentary inquiry into the rejection of Qatar Airways.

Qantas chairman Richard Goyder, new CEO Vanessa Hudson and group executive Andrew Finch appeared side by side on Wednesday, where they were blasted by McKenzie – the inquiry’s chief – during apparent attempts to dodge direct questions.

McKenzie’s probing canvassed issues ranging from Qantas’s support for the Voice ‘Yes’ campaign to whether the airline lobbied the government to block extra Qatar Airways flights.

As the Qantas executives responded, they were chastised for a “level of disrespect” as McKenzie snapped at the extent of their responses.

At one point, she accused Hudson of “filibustering” as she responded to an inference of an arrangement between Qantas and the Albanese government to support the Voice in exchange for blocking Qatar.

“Filibustering may have been the strategy of the former chief executive, I don’t appreciate it from the current one,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie directly asked Goyder if he would “stand by your man” Alan Joyce after the chairman talked around her initial questioning.

Goyder said he “would not walk away from Alan, despite recognising Qantas had some work to do on trust with customers and trust with our brand”.

“I recognise everything Vanessa [Hudson] just said [about needing to do better] but Alan Joyce contributed significantly to Qantas over his 15-years as chief executive,” he said.

“I stand by Vanessa as CEO of Qantas and I think she will be an excellent CEO.”

Joyce dodged Wednesday’s hearing due to “personal obligations” overseas. McKenzie has said he will be summoned on his return to Australia.

Goyder did not answer directly when asked if his position as board chair was untenable. But he said he felt assured he had the backing of major shareholders.

The committee is probing Qantas’s role in Transport Minister Catherine King’s decision to knock back Qatar Airways’ application to double its flights to Australia, but quickly turned to the scandal-embroiled carrier’s reputation.

Despite the Transport Workers’ Union, Pilots Association and Australian Shareholders’ Association adding their names to politicians calling for him to quit, Goyder stuck strong.

While admitting Qantas “has some work to do”, he said a meeting with shareholders after Joyce’s recent retirement as CEO encouraged him to kick on.

“They want the continuity of leadership of me as chair of the board and particularly with a new CEO,” he told the inquiry.

“None of us put our personal interests ahead of [Qantas], so while I retain the confidence of our shareholders and the board, I’ll continue to serve because I think we’ve got some very significant challenges in front of us.”

Hudson confirmed the airline had asked the government not to approve Qatar’s bid.

“We said the rest of the market should be given a chance to recover before such increases were considered and that is exactly what’s happened,” she said.

Earlier, Qatar said it was “surprised and shocked” when it learned through the media that its application had been rejected. But senior vice-president Matt Raos maintained it could deliver the extra services by Christmas if the government changed its mind.

“We had plans to deploy those aircrafts well in advance, we have to make sure … aircrafts are aligned,” he told the hearing on Wednesday morning.

“We aim to operate before Christmas, we hope we manage to do that.”

Coalition senator Simon Birimingham said that “would be great news for travellers and our tourism sector”.

Qatar estimated the additional flights would add $3 billion of economic benefits to Australia, adding the Victorian government was predicting a second daily flight from Doha to Melbourne would create 900 jobs.

Australian Airports Association CEO James Goodwin agreed a review into the Qatar rejection was necessary because it wasn’t in the national interest.

“We should be putting the red carpet out for any carrier that wants to fly into and out of Australia,” he told the inquiry.

“More flights means more jobs, it’s as simple as that”

Qatar has 28 flights, compared to Emirates’ 84 weekly flights and Etihad’s 63.

-with AAP

Topics: Bridget McKenzie, Qantas