Jake Nelson

In a scathing statement, Senator Sheldon, a long-time foe of outgoing CEO Alan Joyce, said the Qantas board “cannot hide behind Joyce’s resignation” and that chair Richard Goyder’s head should be the next on the chopping block.

CEO Alan Joyce, who has led Qantas since 2008, was originally to leave the role at the airline’s AGM in November, but will now hand over the reins to CFO Vanessa Hudson as of Wednesday 6 September. Qantas’s current Executive of strategy, people and technology, Rob Marcolina, will take over as CFO.

In an interview with ABC Radio National, deputy chairman John Sharp also questioned whether outgoing CEO Alan Joyce deserved his potential $24 million final pay packet.

Starting 7 December, the Vietnamese national carrier will fly return three times per week from Perth to Ho Chi Minh City on a 274-seat 787 Dreamliner, adding more than 85,000 seats and nearly 6,000 tonnes of cargo capacity per year between WA and Vietnam.

Flight LA805 from Santiago touched down at 5:20am on Saturday on board the 787-9 Dreamliner CC-BGT (pictured at Melbourne). LATAM will operate three flights per week between Melbourne and Santiago, and is the 36th international carrier to restart flights to Victoria since borders reopened.

Young autistic pilot Hayden McDonald spoke to Jake Nelson ahead of an epic two-month journey around Australia.