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Issue #395: Small Jets & The Chairman’s Lounge
Vanessa who? We need to stop talking about Alan…
Can you name the new Qantas CEO? Well, of course you can, because you’re subscribing to Australian Aviation. But do you think the average person on the street knows who Vanessa Hudson is? Probably not. I mention this because her predecessor wasn’t just the most famous airline executive of his generation, he was undoubtedly the most recognisable business executive in Australia and one of the most famous people in the country. Even now, 12 months later, we can’t stop talking about Alan Joyce.
It’s a sign of his monumental impact, good or bad, that the country’s most famous journalist, Joe Aston, left The Australian Financial Review to write his bombshell book, The Chairman’s Lounge, about Joyce and Qantas.
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While you may not be familiar with the book’s title, you will likely have read the headlines over the last two months as newspapers began questioning the apparently murky relationship between politicians and the Flying Kangaroo. Is it right, they asked, that our democratic representatives are in the pocket of the national carrier when they’re meant to be holding it to account?
In this issue, my colleague Jake Nelson talks to Aston about the book, and the author gives a surprisingly balanced appraisal of the Irishman. He argues that had he left in 2019, his legacy would have been far stronger than having guided the airline through COVID-19. Of course, his supporters would argue that Qantas’ miraculous re-emergence from the pandemic – recording profits so big it could afford to pay down its debts and renew its fleet – was, in fact, his final flourish. It makes an intriguing read.
Elsewhere in the issue, we unpack the events from the Australian Aviation Summit, where the industry’s biggest figures discussed the most important issues of the moment, including our journey to Net Zero and the Aviation White Paper. We also examine, in our cover feature, whether we could see a regional jet renaissance, as a new generation of aircraft make flying short regional hops as profitable as traditional 737 routes.
Finally, author Don Williams tells the story of how Australia’s first- and basically only – homegrown fighter, the CAC Boomerang, proved its doubters wrong to play a starring role for the RAAF during World War II. Williams – who we’ll invite onto our podcast – tells the warts-and-all story, while going into the kind of mind-boggling detail Australian Aviation legend Eric Allen would be proud of.
And, of course, we’ve got our regulars, with Hannah Dowling penning Traffic, Warbirds and Register, and Kirsty Ferguson helming Pinstripe.
Enjoy the issue,
Adam
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Opinion: Should we modify our aircraft carriers?
Stephen Kuper, Senior Analyst, Defence Connect
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Opinion: New law a victory for wage parity
Corey Rabaut, National Industrial Officer, Australian Services Union (ASU)
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