Alan Joyce leaves Qantas: Outrage over CEO’s golden handshake as he retires to enjoy a penthouse with views of the Sydney Opera House

Alan Joyce walks away from Qantas with bulging pockets, but also amid loud calls from critics wanting to rob him of a reportedly $24 million golden handshake.

In a shock move, Mr Joyce said he would step down as CEO of Qantas on Monday, two months ahead of his previously announced departure date in November, as the flag carrier has been plagued by allegations of unreliable behavior and deteriorating customer sentiment.

After 15 years in office, Mr. Joyce will take home a $24 million “golden handshake” that one of his old enemies has described as the “swindle of the century.”

In addition, Mr Joyce sold his palatial home in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Mosman in June for a price reported to be well over $20 million, having spent $19 million on it with husband Shane Lloyd early last year.

The couple will not be evicted, however, as they have “downsized” to a $9.25 million penthouse they bought earlier this year and next door to a penthouse they already own in the Cove Apartments in Sydney’s harborside district of The Rocks. .

To fill the idle hours of Joyce’s retirement at age 57, the pair can also retire to their weekender in Sydney’s glamorous Palm Beach, which cost $5.25 million in 2015.

The departure bonuses are in addition to the estimated $125 million Mr. Joyce has received during his tenure running the airline.

There were no happy farewell wishes from Labor Senator Tony Sheldon, who as boss of the Transport Workers Union went into talks with Mr Joyce about the firing of 1,700 baggage handlers found illegal by 2022 by the Federal Court.

Senator Sheldon said on Tuesday that Qantas’ board and shareholders “have a duty to abolish Mr Joyce’s bonus.”

“If the board allows Mr. Joyce to walk away with $24 million after illegally firing 1,700 people, berating customers and subject to an ACCC prosecution, that will be the scam of the century,” Senator Sheldon said. .

Business watchdog ACCC announced on Monday that it would sue Qantas for a fine of about $250 million for the sale of 10,000 flights that had already been canceled in mid-2022.

According to Senator Sheldon, Mr Joyce has made Qantas “become synonymous with low wages, precarious work, illegal layoffs and consumer scams.”

Rachel Waterhouse, CEO of the Australian Shareholders Association, also called for Mr Joyce’s bonuses to be withheld and reconsidered in light of the ACCC investigation.

“It’s a reputation issue and the board is responsible for managing it,” Waterhouse said.

“There is a deterioration in the brand and also in the share price. They may have to make some decisions to suspend bonuses or reconsider their pay.”

Senator Sheldon went one step further and demanded that Qantas chairman Richard Goyder be the next to go.

“The board has supported Joyce’s conduct every step of the way and must be held equally accountable for the disgraceful state of the company,” Senator Sheldon wrote.

Senator Sheldon’s sentiments were echoed on the popular Qantas Customers Hints, Tips, Questions and Gripes Facebook page, which has nearly 50,000 members.

“Excellent news that Joyce is leaving 14 years and 364 days late. He can look back on some wonderful achievements: how to turn a top product into a budget airline and still charge premium prices,” one poster wrote.

How to destroy customer service values, alienate a great workforce, and destroy a world-renowned brand, all with the backing of a board that empowered it but seemingly unaware of what was happening under their watch.

“The fish always rots at the head.”

Qantas’ charges have appeared on the page so consistently and vehemently in recent days that the administrator intervened last week to remove them.

“I feel the tone of this group has strayed from its original intent, being a place to ask questions and gather information on Qantas related issues, give compliments when things are great, and vent when things go wrong ‘ she wrote.

“So in the next few days I will be removing any new posts or comments related to the Senate hearing, the ACCC action, the government’s blocking of flights to Qatar, or anything not directly related to traveling with a Qantas or codeshare flight.

“If this frustrates anyone, you can start your own discussion group, or join the Qantas Sucks group, which is very active at the moment.”

However, Mr. Joyce has his defenders, including AirlineRatings.com editor-in-chief Geoff Thomas, who said he had done a “very, very good job.”

He told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Tuesday that while the board and shareholders could withdraw Joyce’s bonuses, they will not.

“A lot of things are wrong with Qantas at the moment and Alan has become the autumn man, if you will, but when history looks at him in a few years, they will actually look a lot friendlier than they do at the moment,” said Thomas. 3AW morning presenter Neil Mitchell.

“I think Allan has seen him become the center of some of the problems the airline has been facing.”

Mr. Thomas argued that Mr. Joyce lowered the price of Qantas stock from 99 cents when he took it over to between five and six dollars, which was a good thing for all the pension funds investing in it.

While the $2.7 billion in public aid had caused much resentment, Thomas said other governments bailed out their airlines to a much greater extent, with Germany’s airline Lufthansa getting $15 billion.

Qantas passengers were often left seething with canceled or long-delayed post-Covid flights, but again Mr Thomas said things were worse elsewhere.

“It was extremely upsetting for everyone, but it was chaotic all over the world,” he said.

While Mr Joyce had become a very divisive person ‘thanks to the union movement’, Mr Thomas said he had been presented with a very difficult environment to work in with new ‘greenfield airlines’ emerging as low-cost competitors.

“It was a huge challenge, he did very, very well,” said Thomas.

Qantas has been on the defensive since a Senate hearing last week revealed the airline had at least $370 million in unused flight credits from the period of the Covid pandemic due to expire at the end of December.

On Monday, Qantas announced it would scrap the expiration date.

It also offered a fawning apology for the ACCC action.

“The ACCC’s allegations come at a time when Qantas’ reputation has already been badly damaged on several fronts,” a spokesman for the airline said.

“We want the community to know that we hear and understand their disappointment.

“We know it takes time to fix it. And we are absolutely determined to do that.’

Questions have also been raised over the past month about Joyce’s political clout after the government announced it would block rival Qatar from competing on Qantas routes to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

The Albanian government has defended the decision as being in the national interest.

However, critics question whether they may have been swayed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s son being awarded a coveted pass to the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge, which is open by invitation only.

Qantas has also emerged as an unashamed cheerleader for Labour’s proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, painting planes to promote the Yes cause and even offering free flights to those advocating for it.

Even the good news that Qantas announced a $2.5 billion profit last Thursday has raised questions about whether it should return some of the $2.7 billion it received in government aid during the Covid shutdowns.

Despite Qantas’ huge profits, Qantas is also not paying dividends to shareholders this year, as the money will be spent on a $500 million share buyback in February.

Some of these shares may include a portion of the $10.8 million the airline announced on Friday it had given to Mr. Joyce as part of his departure package.

Mr Joyce reportedly sold a large portion of his shares.

While Mr Joyce has weathered most barbs with an even temper, the sale of his property in Mosman could reflect the criticism that followed him home.

In early 2021, the building was defaced with eggs, flour and toilet paper thrown on it.