Sydney (AFP) - Australia's Qantas Group named Vanessa Hudson as its first female chief executive on Tuesday, replacing the cost-cutting Irish-Australian Alan Joyce.
Qantas, which returned to profit late last year after taking large losses during the Covid-19 pandemic, said Hudson would become chief executive and managing director when Joyce retires in November after 15 years in the top job.
Hudson, who has been in Qantas' executive ranks for nearly three decades, will remain in her role as chief financial officer until then, the airline group said.
"I have worked for Qantas for 28 years and that excitement of the first day that I felt walking into Qantas, I feel still today," Hudson told a news conference.
"We are in an incredibly strong position.We have got many things in the pipeline.That is not to say the past three years have not been challenging -- they have," she added.
"There will be many challenges, I am sure, ahead," she said, stressing that taking care of customers was "absolutely at the centre of everything".
Joyce, who was already known to be leaving at some point this year, praised his successor as an "amazingly outstanding executive".
"There are not many female CEOs of the worldwide aviation industry," he told the news conference.
"And it's a credit to this country that a gay Irish man was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company.And now we have the first female."
Qantas posted a profit of Aus$1.43 billion (US$974 million) before tax in the second half of 2022, after accumulating Aus$7 billion in losses across the previous three years weighed down by the pandemic.
'Qantas downfall'
Under Joyce, Qantas was heavily criticised by Australia's transport union for sacking or standing down thousands of staff to keep a lid on costs at the height of the outbreak.
"After 15 years of Qantas downfall under Alan Joyce's management, a new CEO has the opportunity to serve the hard-working people who built the spirit of Australia," the Transport Workers Union said in a statement.
"Current and illegally sacked workers deserve courageous management to take Qantas in a new direction."
The airline has also angered customers post-lockdowns with sky-high fares.
Joyce argued that the restructuring, which saved Qantas almost Aus$1 billion, had been crucial to the company's financial rebound.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said the airline group was "extremely well positioned", with a clear strategy, strong balance sheet and record profitability.
"Much of the credit for the bright future in front of Qantas goes to Alan," he said in a statement.
"He's faced more than his fair share of challenges," Goyder added, citing the 2007-2008 global financial crisis, intense competition and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Joyce said he had extended his time as chief executive at the board's request to steer the airline through the pandemic.
