Senior leader quits while Qantas awaits High Court verdict
The head of Qantas’ information division has resigned, as the business grapples with the fallout after a torrid three weeks which culminated with the shock departure of Alan Joyce on Tuesday. Sam Charmand had worked at Qantas for nearly 16 years and is the second senior leader to quit the embattled airline business since it became embroiled in legal action launched by the consumer watchdog over allegations it falsely advertised and sold tickets on cancelled flights. Qantas on Monday confirmed the resignation, which was first reported in the Australian Financial Review. The Qantas group was forced to unwind the expiry dates on refunds for flights affected by COVID-19 last week, following backlash from consumers, politicians and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Qantas is bracing for a High Court verdict on Wednesday, following a last-ditch appeal lodged by the airline business over its outsourcing of 1700 ground handling staff during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qantas lodged the High Court appeal following a 2021 decision in the Federal Court which found the airline business had contravened the Fair Work Act when it stood down employees working at 11 airports during the pandemic in November 2020. The Full Federal Court then upheld this decision in 2022, but the courts did not force the group to reinstate the affected employees. The embattled business has since engaged strategic management consultancy group Boston Consulting to help newly minted boss Vanessa Hudson transform its reputation. Qantas stood down the ground staff in November 2020 and began using third-party providers including Dnata, Menzies and Swissport, which are also used by other global airlines including Emirates and Etihad. The decision led to Federal Court action lodged by the Transport Workers’ Union. The Federal Court was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Qantas was motivated only by commercial reasons and could not rule out that the carrier group also may have been trying to avoid future industrial action.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2023-09-12/oneworld/senior-leader-quits-while-qantas-awaits-high-court-verdict
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Senior leader quits while Qantas awaits High Court verdict
The head of Qantas’ information division has resigned, as the business grapples with the fallout after a torrid three weeks which culminated with the shock departure of Alan Joyce on Tuesday. Sam Charmand had worked at Qantas for nearly 16 years and is the second senior leader to quit the embattled airline business since it became embroiled in legal action launched by the consumer watchdog over allegations it falsely advertised and sold tickets on cancelled flights. Qantas on Monday confirmed the resignation, which was first reported in the Australian Financial Review. The Qantas group was forced to unwind the expiry dates on refunds for flights affected by COVID-19 last week, following backlash from consumers, politicians and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Qantas is bracing for a High Court verdict on Wednesday, following a last-ditch appeal lodged by the airline business over its outsourcing of 1700 ground handling staff during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qantas lodged the High Court appeal following a 2021 decision in the Federal Court which found the airline business had contravened the Fair Work Act when it stood down employees working at 11 airports during the pandemic in November 2020. The Full Federal Court then upheld this decision in 2022, but the courts did not force the group to reinstate the affected employees. The embattled business has since engaged strategic management consultancy group Boston Consulting to help newly minted boss Vanessa Hudson transform its reputation. Qantas stood down the ground staff in November 2020 and began using third-party providers including Dnata, Menzies and Swissport, which are also used by other global airlines including Emirates and Etihad. The decision led to Federal Court action lodged by the Transport Workers’ Union. The Federal Court was not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Qantas was motivated only by commercial reasons and could not rule out that the carrier group also may have been trying to avoid future industrial action.<br/>
