Qantas Airways Chairman, Richard Goyder, will step down next year as part of a boardroom clean out so that the carrier can repair its reputation following a series of scandals.
Directors Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire in February, and Goyder will retire before the Qantas’s annual general meeting later in the year, reported gulfnews.com.
Goyder had been brushing off requests to take responsibility for the various scandals that have affected the airline’s reputation and for monopolising the chairmanship of multiple prolific corporations including Woodside Energy Group and the Australian Football League.
Under his guidance, Qantas illegally retrenched 1 700 groundworkers during the pandemic. The airline also faced growing passenger frustration as cancellations and delays increased, and it was sued for selling thousands of seats on cancelled flights.
The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) criticised Goyder for not following recently retired Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, this year and urged the airline to include a worker representative on its airline board.
According to TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine, “(Goyder is attempting) to leave in a dignified manner with another year’s pay in his pocket, after presiding over the largest case of illegal sackings in Australian history. This isn’t genuine board renewal – this is just shuffling the deckchairs.”
Qantas has promised an independent review to assess major governance issues in the airline from the last year; results will be made available in the second quarter of 2024.
