Qantas’ tumultuous era might be behind it – but some say Alan Joyce’s ghost still lingers

It may be some way off being loved again, and the ghosts of its tumultuous era may still linger, but the past year appears to have made a world of difference for Qantas’ revival – in the eyes of investors. Shareholders who attended its annual general meeting in Hobart on Friday were in a markedly better mood than this time last year, with its share price up by more than 60% to trade just above the $8 mark. One year ago, as Australia’s biggest airline emerged from pandemic disruptions to post record multibillion-dollar profits, shareholders delivered one of Australia’s largest-ever protest votes against executive pay, amid fury at a cascading string of scandals that precipitated the early retirement of its long-term CE Alan Joyce. At the 2023 AGM in Melbourne, the company’s executive pay deal was overwhelmingly rejected, with 83% of votes cast against, setting up the prospect of a vote to spill the airline’s board of directors if the remuneration plans were voted down again the following year. However, in Hobart on Friday, the 75% threshold of support was reached comfortably, which meant Qantas avoided a potential board spill. “The shareholders can’t complain – sure they might get lower dividends, but it’s a phenomenal rise [in share price],” said Tony Webber, the CE of the industry analyst firm Airline Intelligence & Research and a former chief economist at Qantas. “Their financials are clearly better, but they’ve achieved this by pissing off a lot of people … It’s still an active task to win back its reputation,” Webber said.<br/>