Australia’s Qantas pilots call for airline president’s resignation
Sydney, Australia, Sep 26 (EFE).- The union of pilots of Australian airline Qantas called Tuesday for the resignation of the company’s President Richard Goyder over scandals in the company that have caused a drop in employee morale.
The Australian and International Pilots Association, which represents 2,250 Qantas pilots, said in a statement that they informed Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson of his request.
Association President Tony Lucas said Qantas has experienced some of its worst moments under the current president, including “the illegal dismissal of 1,700 workers, allegations of illegal sale of canceled flights and terrible management of returning to operations after Covid-19.”
Because of these scandals, “the morale of Qantas pilots has never been lower. We have lost all confidence in Goyder and his board. Qantas needs a change of culture, but how can this happen with Goyder as president?” Lucas added.
The union official said Goyder accepted a raise of AUD100,000 last week, which brings his salary to AUD750,000 (about $41,012) annually, while employees have to accept two years of frozen salaries.
The union said new leadership at the company should understand the “value” of its employees and “respect” customers to regain trust.
Earlier this month, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce brought forward his retirement and was replaced by Vanessa Hudson, amid several scandals.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which oversees competition and consumer spending in Australia, sued Qantas in August for allegedly “misleadingly” promoting and selling thousands of tickets of more than 8,000 canceled flights between May 2022 and July 2022.
On Sep. 13, the Supreme Court rejected an appeal by the airline against the ruling that considered illegal the dismissal of 1,700 workers in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, which opened the door for those affected to request compensation.
Other controversial Qantas issues have been the high ticket prices, the poor quality of customer services, claims for credits accumulated due to flight cancellations during Covid or the subcontracting of ground staff after the pandemic.
Despite everything, the airline reported a net profit of AUD1.74 billion in the 2022-2023 fiscal year at the end of August. EFE
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