Qantas’s embattled chair, Richard Goyder, will appear before a Senate inquiry into the Albanese government’s decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its flights into Australia as he faces widespread calls for his resignation.
Goyder, who will be joined by the new Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, on Wednesday, will be called on to defend the national carrier against a series of criticisms by industry witnesses that the airline has been engaging in anti-competitive behaviour, known as “slot hoarding”.
But Qantas’s opposition to Qatar Airways’ expansion, and its lobbying efforts in Canberra, are expected to be front and centre.
The announcement of the pair’s appearance follows a statement issued by the airline’s pilots calling for Goyder’s resignation as chair for his role in overseeing “one of the most damaging periods” in Qantas’s history.
Hudson and Goyder will not be joined by the former CEO Alan Joyce, whose legal representatives told the committee he will be overseas and unavailable to appear either in person or online before it reports its findings on 9 October.
The Virgin Australia CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, representatives of Qatar Airways, as well as two former Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairs, Allan Fels and Rod Sims, will also give evidence before the hearing in Canberra on Wednesday.
The Australian and International Pilots Association president, Tony Lucas, said on Tuesday the morale of Qantas pilots has “never been lower”, calling for Goyder to lose his position.
Qantas has so far faced a number of criticisms from industry, experts and unions, who have pointed to its market dominance and treatment of workers and customers as reasons for urgent reform.
Airport bosses last week accused Qantas in a Senate submission as one of the carriers engaging in “slot hoarding” – a practice where airlines hold on to flight slots despite not necessarily intending to go ahead with the flights for economic reasons.
Qantas has repeatedly denied the allegation.
This week, it was also revealed that Qatar requested urgent consultation sessions with the Australian government over its decision to block its national airline from almost doubling flights.
The Australian government is yet to schedule the meetings, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority revealed in a written submission to the inquiry.
The Qatari government body, which lodged the request for an extra 28 weekly services to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, claimed that “no other carrier in the (Gulf Cooperation Council) region is subject to such strict conditions and requirements regarding fair competition in Australia”.
The QCAA said that on 16 August it “officially requested consultations … to better understand the reasons for their decision and to work together with the Department (of Infrastructure and Transport) to build a road map for future enhancements of traffic rights”.
“On 25 August 2023, the department informed us that our request for consultations was under consideration and indicated that they would respond as soon as possible. We sincerely hope that the department will agree to schedule consultations as a matter of urgency and priority,” the QCAA said.
The QCAA also hit out at Qantas and its partner Emirates for lobbying against Qatar Airways’ expansion. “If Qantas has no reason for making such negative statements, except for the benefit of their commercial relationship with Emirates.”
During a committee hearing in Brisbane on Tuesday, Simon Harrison, chair of the Australia Qatar Business Council, accused the government of seizing on the Doha airport incident as justification for its decision.
Harrison said the 2020 incident – where women were invasively examined without consent – had been used while ignoring similar issues with China and its airlines.
