Qantas: Appoints Vanessa Hudson as CEO

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Australian airline Qantas Group has announced that Vanessa Hudson will become its next CEO and Managing Director, replacing Alan Joyce in November. Hudson, who has been with the airline for 28 years in various roles, will be the first woman to hold this position in the company’s 103-year history. Joyce, who was appointed Qantas CEO in 2008 and agreed in 2020 to remain in his role through the COVID-19 pandemic, praised the appointment, saying, “it’s a credit to this country that a gay Irishman was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company, and now we have the first female, and it’s a credit to the board.” Hudson, who served as Chief Financial Officer during the start of the pandemic, said her focus would be on “delivering for our customers.” Her appointment comes after Qantas returned to profit in February, posting an underlying pre-tax half-year result of 1.43 billion Australian dollars ($978 million) for the six months through December, following three years of statutory losses due to the pandemic. Qantas Chair Richard Goyder said Hudson’s appointment came after a global search and was “the right choice for the airline’s future.” He added that her experience and leadership during the pandemic had “prepared her well” for the role.

Re-reported from the story originally published in https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/