Qantas holds general meeting as engineers take industrial action

Qantas is holding its annual general meeting in Tasmania today as the airline looks to resurrect its tarnished reputation.

Transcript

00:00Well, we've heard from the Chairman John Mullen and also the CEO, Vanessa Hudson, and their

00:06message has really been around the rebuilding of Qantas's damaged brand. So the Chairman

00:13said there was no pretending that Qantas had been through a very difficult period over

00:17recent years. That, of course, was an allusion to some of those controversies and scandals

00:23that we've seen in the headlines, things like the illegal sacking of 1700 workers back at

00:28the height of the pandemic in 2020. That'll end up costing the airline at least $100 million

00:34in compensation. And there was also the selling of tickets to thousands of customers for flights

00:41that had already been cancelled. And that resulted in a settlement with the ACCC worth

00:46around $120 million. So the Chairman said that those challenges were being comprehensively

00:53dealt with by management. He said the airline had turned a corner, that it had learned from

00:59its mistakes, that it was righting the wrongs of the past. And he said he wants to rebuild

01:04the reputation of Qantas as one of the leading airlines in the world. And interestingly,

01:10he also, at the end of his speech, praised both the former Chairman, Richard Goyder,

01:16and also the former CEO, Alan Joyce, for their role in helping steer the company through

01:21that very difficult time during the pandemic. So here is a little bit of what the Chairman

01:27had to say today.

01:29As a board, we are deeply committed to ensuring that Qantas resumes its place as again being

01:34seen as one of the truly great airlines of the world, that we are again recognised as

01:39a leader in customer experience, and that we rebuild trust and pride with our outstanding

01:44employees all around the world.

01:48So Jarno, what else is expected at the AGM today?

01:51Well Kat, there are a number of resolutions that are on the agenda, and one of them relates

01:57to the remuneration or the bonuses for the executives. Now, you might recall last year

02:02it was a very hostile AGM, where more than 80% of shareholders rejected the proposed

02:09remuneration package for management last year. They deemed that to be far too excessive at

02:14a time when the reputation of the airline was taking such a big hit. Now this time around,

02:20if more than 25% of shareholders reject the current proposed remuneration package, that'll

02:26be considered a second strike and would then result in a motion to spill the board. Now

02:34that's something we'll keep an eye out on, but certainly most analysts don't think there

02:39will be a spill of the board based on what happens here today.

02:43Okay, and Jarno, we know that this meeting is coinciding with industrial action by our

02:47Qantas engineers today. What sort of impact is that having?

02:53Well certainly Qantas says it has contingencies in place to ensure there's no disruption

02:57to its customers across its network, but we do know that there's some 400 to 600 engineers

03:04with the airline who are striking two four-hour strikes today, one in the morning and one

03:11later on in the day. And those engineers are looking for a 25% pay rise over the next

03:18three years. And we heard from the board chairman a short time ago and he said that the airline

03:24was looking for a balanced outcome and that it was happy to sit down in good faith to

03:29reach a compromise with those unions that are representing the engineers that are striking

03:34today.