The disgraced ex-chief executive of Australian flag carrier Qantas has had AU $9.26 million wiped from his pre-departure annual bonus after the airline’s board concluded that Joyce and other members of his management team made a series of mistakes that resulted in “significant reputational and customer service issues”.
Joyce resigned with immediate effect in September 2023 after his position at the helm of Qantas came under intense scrutiny, including the airline’s poor performance as it recovered from the aftereffects of pandemic-era travel restrictions.
On Thursday, the Qantas board announced that it had found no evidence of “deliberate wrongdoing” by Joyce or other senior leaders but that his mistakes warranted withholding millions of dollars in bonus payments that had been due to make up his annual salary.
The bulk of the forfeited bonus relates to $8.36 million in Long Term Incentive Plan payments which is being 100% withheld, while the board has also decided to reduce a short term incentive bonus by 33%.
“The events that damaged Qantas and its reputation and caused considerable harm to relationships with customers, employees and other stakeholders were due to a number of factors,” the airline said on Thursday.
A statement from the carrier continued: “In reaching these decisions, the Board has considered the individual and collective accountability of members of the Group Management Committee. The Board has also taken into account their performance in bringing Qantas through the pandemic and the challenges of standing up the airline through that period.”
Just weeks after Joyce stepped down from his role as CEO, the airline announced that he was set to receive a bumper $21.4 million annual pay award, although board of directors said that it could ‘clawback’ a $8.3 million if deemed necessary.
At the time, Qantas was facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit from Australian regulators who had accused the airline of continuing to sell tickets for more than 8,000 flights that had already been cancelled.
The airline had also been blasted over its attempt to expire COVID travel vouchers before public pressure forced an embarrassing u-turn. In addition, Joyce had faced scrutiny from lawmakers over his involvement in blocking an attempt by Qatar Airways to increase the number of flights it operates to Australia.
In an effort to regain public and regulatory trust in the embattled airline, new chief executive Vanessa Hudson reached a settlement with regulators in which Qantas “admitted to misleading customers in relation to flight cancellations processes.”
The settlement, which is subject to federal court approval, will see Qantas forced to pay a $100 million penalty, along with a $20 million customer remediation program.
Further penalties for the illegal sacking of Qantas employees under Joyce’s watch at the start of the pandemic are still to be determined.
