Alan Joyce’s $21.4m goodbye subject to huge clawback

Then Qantas CEO Alan Joyce in the cockpit of a 787 Dreamliner in 2017. (Image: Qantas)

Alan Joyce’s $21.4 million pay packet for FY23 is subject to an $8.3 million clawback if the board deems it necessary.

The former Qantas CEO is having $2.2 million in short-term bonuses withheld, with a total of $14.4 million in incentives subject to malus and clawback when coupled with long-term bonuses he was already granted. The group has reduced its senior executives’ bonuses by 20 per cent, with the remainder to be withheld while an ACCC court case proceeds.

In a statement, Qantas chair Richard Goyder said the Flying Kangaroo is suffering “an acute loss of trust from the community, and accumulated disappointment from customers” due to a number of factors including the ACCC’s court action alleging the airline sold tickets to 8,000 flights it had already cancelled.

“The scorecard that determines short-term incentive payments has a number of financial and non-financial measures, including safety, customer satisfaction and emissions reduction,” he said.

“While customer satisfaction levels improved during the year, they are well below where they should be. As a result, this part of the scorecard was judged at zero out of a possible 20 per cent and this had a corresponding impact on senior executive pay.

“While the ACCC’s recent allegations are untested, the Board understands shareholder and community concerns about them coinciding with significant executive pay outcomes. As part of good governance, after applying the 20 per cent reduction the Board will withhold the balance of the FY23 short-term incentive for senior executives while this matter progresses.

“There are already clawback provisions on significant amounts of remuneration awarded but not yet released that would be used if significant misconduct was ultimately found.”

Qantas will also significantly increase the weighting on consumer outcomes in executive remuneration for the 2024 financial year, as well as introduce it as a metric for future long-term incentives.

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“Importantly, operational safety performance remained strong in a year when the Group doubled the number of passengers it carried to 46 million. We bettered our net emissions reduction target by 3 per cent. And Qantas was more punctual than its major domestic competitor for 11 out of 12 months,” said Goyder.

“While there is much work to do right across the Group, we can’t lose sight of the many positives. This includes the fact we are tackling the current challenges with strong financial foundations, in stark contrast to the past few years, giving us the ability to invest in customers, new aircraft and more people.

“We’re determined to bring Qantas back to its position as one of the most trusted brands. That can only happen by consistently delivering to the standards people rightly expect, and the Board is working closely with Vanessa and her new management team to ensure that happens.”