Jake Nelson

Speaking at The Australian Financial Review’s 2025 Business Summit, Hudson said it was important for Qantas to overhaul its fleet given the delays in receiving its new A321XLRs and A220s. The Flying Kangaroo currently operates five A220s, with its first A321XLR to arrive later this year.

Emerson, a 21-year veteran of Virgin owner Bain Capital’s sister consultancy firm Bain & Company, was brought in as CCO in 2021. He will replace outgoing CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who announced her departure from the top job last year.

The Queensland grants come after the federal government has so far poured more than $17 million into regional airports across NSW, Victoria and Western Australia, also as part of the fourth round of the Regional Airports Program.

Released this week in the lead-up to International Women’s Day on Saturday, the data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) shows that the median pay gap at Qantas Group was 32.4 per cent in 2023–24 for total remuneration, compared to 46.2 per cent at Virgin.

Parker, who served as Qantas’ chief sustainability officer for three years before his departure in 2024, previously worked as a senior vice president at Emirates covering areas such as international affairs and environment.

Flight QF643 took off from Sydney at around 8:45am aboard the 13-year-old 737-800 VH-VZV, but landed again after circling the airport. The aircraft was able to land safely and taxi back to the gate, with no smoke having entered the cabin.