Issue 260: Into the Blue

New Qantas CEO Alan Joyce on leading in tough times

Alan Joyce is wearing ties again, now he is running Qantas. “I had to dust them off,” joked Joyce of his need to wear ties again since his promotion from CEO of Jetstar to CEO of Qantas. “Lucky I didn’t give them to St Vincents de Paul!”

Wearing the tie is symbolic of the step change in roles and responsibilities for the new head of Australia’s biggest airline. Joyce rose to prominence in leading the start-up and growth of Jetstar, Qantas’s successful low leisure orientated cost carrier subsidiary. But now he is rising to the even greater challenge of navigating the whole Qantas Group through tough economic times while addressing the iconic carrier’s problem areas.