Joyce Oversees Spectacular Turnaround at Qantas of 2014
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Irish Times-Business* Circulation: 82059 Saturday, 2 April 2016 Area of Clip: 61700mm² Page: 3 Page 1 of 2 Joyce oversees spectacular turnaround at Qantas of 2014. Profits included A$448 million in fuel savings. European destinations Even there the company can In Europe, only British Airways flies to Australia. It stops in Sin- claim credit as it has sophisticat- gapore but there are aircraft on ed hedging and was one of the the way that will eliminate this first to move as oil prices began need. In 2021, Qantas will have to fall. One salient point was the the new Boeing 777 8X, which performance of Jetstar, the Qan- could connect Ireland and Aus- Barry tas low-cost carrier Joyce estab- tralia. However, its chief execu- lished, which made $262 mil- tive says that initially at least, O’Halloran lion. “Jetstar made more money the airline’s customers are in six months than it did in any Interview full year in its history,” he says. more likely to be interested in other European destinations. Just two years ago Budget flyers Meanwhile, he has to imple- The subsidiary has seen off its ri- ment a further $600 million in there were calls for val Virgin, whose 25 per cent savings at Qantas to hit the shareholder, Air New Zealand, $2 billion target set in the trans- his head, now the now wants to sell up. Jetstar’s formation programme. airline boss is a hero 35 per cent cost advantage ulti- Joyce, who is from Spring- mately forced the other airline field, Tallaght, did applied sci- ence at the Dublin Institute of to stop pursuing budget flyers Technology and a master’s in and go after premium traffic. Alan Joyce, the Irish chief exec- This is the opposite of the Eu- operations research, a branch of mathematics, in Trinity Col- utive of Australian airline Qan- ropean experience, where es- lege Dublin. That led to a job in tas, has passed the toughest tablished players cut costs to Aer Lingus where he caught test of his career with flying col- combat Ryanair and EasyJet. the airline bug. ours. The company has just an- “The CEO of one of the big nounced record €620 million European low-cost carriers re- He moved to Australia in profits and intends to return cently told me that Qantas was 1996 and worked in network half of it to shareholders. defying gravity,” Joyce says. and schedule planning before In 2014, his transformation Ryanair played an indirect becoming chief executive of Jet- plan for the airline seemed role in Jetstar. Qantas set up star. Five years later, he took grounded by huge losses and the subsidiary in 2003 with charge at Qantas. critics were calling for his head. Joyce at the helm. He brought He has put his stamp on the Three years earlier his proposal in a former executive with the airline in more ways than one. to cut 5,000 jobs at Qantas had Irish airline, Conor McCarthy, Joyce is gay and his company is sparked industrial unrest. to work on the new business. backing the campaign for mar- They are eating their words “He helped us to set up Jet- riage equality in his adopted now. John Addis, founder of In- star and gave us some amazing country. Qantas also supports a telligent Investor, wrote an arti- insights,” Joyce says. “He has constitutional change giving cle in the Sydney Morning Her- been very good about coming recognition to Australia’s indig- ald apologising for predicting back from time to time to make enous peoples. two years ago that Qantas sure that we do not get off A firm believer that diversity would sack its chief executive. track.” is good for business, he argues “Mostly I felt happy for our Outside its domestic market, that it is best introduced to the people and the effort they put where it fought bitter battles workplace by setting targets, in,” Joyce says. He adds that the with Virgin, Qantas faces stiff combined with training and oth- er initiatives to combat bias at it part the airline’s 30,000 staff competition in its international played in turning the company business. Joyce says 32 airlines roots. Joyce was in Dublin for the around was key in the results. fly the “kangaroo route” from Irish Aviation Authority’s gala Another factor was the large Australia to Britain. Asia is simi- ball yesterday, where he was number of satisfied travellers larly crowded. honoured for his contribution that flew with Qantas. Using their bases as hubs be- to the global aviation industry. “We have never dropped the tween there and Europe, the ball when it came to customer Gulf carriers - Emirates, Eti- service, we have continuously had and Qatar - have built // The chief invested in that all through strong franchises there, but •• executive of transformation.” they are just the latest wave. one of the big The final element was Qan- “We’ve always had competi- tas’s Australian $921 million European low-cost (€621 million) profit for the six tion; before the Gulf carriers carriers recently months ended December 31st, we had Singapore and Cathay the first half of its financial Pacific,” Joyce says. It has also told me that year. It was a spectacular turna- opened new opportunities for Qantas was defying round from the A$300 million Qantas, which has a code-share gravity loss reported at the with Emirates, with which Joyce flew to Dublin. Irish Times-Business* Circulation: 82059 Saturday, 2 April 2016 Area of Clip: 61700mm² Page: 3 Page 2 of 2 Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce: in Dublin to be honoured for his contribution to the global aviation industry. PHOTOGRAPH: USA MAREE WILLIAMS/GETTY IMAGES) .