Succession Plans

Executive succession is an inevitability for any company, let alone in the volatile business of running airlines. Chief executives don’t last forever. Some of them don’t last long. But for Australia’s two mainline rivals, Qantas Airways and Virgin Australia, their latest financial results have almost certainly guaranteed there will be no leadership change anytime soon

Back in 2012, when Qantas was in the midst of crisis, its international operations churning out gallons of red ink, the wolves were gathering with sharpened knives demanding chief executive Alan Joyce simply had to go.

Several analysts considered a management restructure at the time – Simon Hickey taking charge of Qantas International, Lyell Strambi domestic operations and Jayne Hrdlicka budget Jetstar – was part of a succession plan aimed at finding a replacement. But the ever-smiling Irish-born Australian had a message for anyone thinking he was about to depart. “I’m 46 and Geoff (Dixon, his predecessor as chief executive) retired when he was 70. I’ve got a long way to go,” was his pointed retort to questions about his position.