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Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has officially released his memoir detailing his life and aviation career, including the decade and a half he spent as the head of the national carrier.
Published by Hardie Grant, Riding the Jet Stream touches on key moments from Joyce’s working life, including the founding of Jetstar, the GFC, the Qantas worldwide fleet grounding, the campaign for same-sex marriage, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
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“For fifteen years, Alan Joyce was CEO of Australia’s most recognised corporation – Qantas, the Flying Kangaroo. Riding the Jet Stream is the compelling memoir from one of Australia’s most consequential and polarising chief executives,” the publisher said in a press release.
“Alan Joyce’s story – from a working-class childhood in Dublin to the helm of one of the world’s most iconic airlines – is one of ambition, intellect and steel.
“The son of a cleaner and factory worker, Alan found his way through numbers – studying mathematics and management science before entering the complex and volatile world of aviation.
“In Riding the Jetstream, he tells his story as it happens – in real time, under pressure … Joyce provides a no-holds-barred account of some of the most important decisions taken during his 15-year career at the helm.”
In a post on LinkedIn in May, Joyce said he had two motivations for writing the book, which he described as being about resilience and “what it actually feels like to lead through a crisis when there is no playbook”.
“The first was to set the record straight on what actually happened during my career: the Global Financial Crisis, the grounding of the Qantas fleet in 2011, the industrial battles, the unrelenting public scrutiny, and the period that brought global travel to a standstill: COVID-19,” he said.
“So much was written and said in real time. I wanted to tell it as it actually unfolded, in the room, under pressure, with every decision carrying enormous consequences for tens of thousands of people.
“The second reason was more personal. I wanted to encourage young leaders to learn from my successes and my failures, because I think that’s where the real lessons sit.”
Joyce also said the book would touch on the connections he had made during his career, which spanned Aer Lingus, Ansett and Jetstar before being appointed Qantas CEO at age 42, a position he would hold until his retirement in 2023.
“Royalties will be donated to The Pinnacle Foundation, which provides scholarships and mentoring for young LGBTQIA+ Australians; the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in support of its medical research programs; and Sydney Festival, to support the staging of a new production in 2027,” said Hardie Grant.
Alan Joyce was the keynote speaker at last year’s Australian Aviation Summit in Sydney.
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