(SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA) – Former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has expressed regret over the airline’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, while defending the decisions that kept the company solvent during the crisis. Joyce made the comments ahead of the release of his autobiography, “Alan Joyce: Riding the Jet Stream”, speaking to multiple Australian media outlets from his Sydney home.
Joyce said that if he had known in August 2020 that a vaccine would arrive, prove effective and trigger a massive rebound in demand, the airline would have made different choices. “With the information we had at the time, I still don’t think there was any other decision you could make,” he said. “Hindsight is a great thing.”
The former chief executive described the airline’s exit from pandemic lockdowns as one of his biggest regrets. “We got it badly wrong,” he told The Australian newspaper. He told the Nine Network’s 60 Minutes programme that he recognises the responsibility of the role. “I recognise that when it comes down to it, the buck will always stop with the CEO on these things, and I accept that.”
Qantas sacked 1,820 ground crew, baggage handlers and cleaners in 2021, a decision the High Court later ruled was illegal. The airline was ordered to pay A$120 million (US$93.0 million, £72.9 million) in compensation to the affected workers and was fined a further A$90 million (US$69.7 million, £54.7 million) by the Federal Court. The Transport Workers Union received A$50 million (US$38.7 million, £30.4 million) of that penalty. Joyce stated that the decision to outsource the workers was made by Andrew David, then chief executive for Domestic and International, but added that he takes overall responsibility for the airline’s actions during his tenure.
Many of the 1,820 former workers are still waiting for their compensation nearly six years after being dismissed. Law firm Maurice Blackburn is administering the court approved compensation scheme, which requires individual assessment of each claim. The process involves reviewing 17,500 individual tax documents and conducting independent medical examinations for non-economic loss claims covering stress, humiliation and psychological harm.
Former baggage handler Damien Pollard, now 59, said the prolonged legal process has been difficult. “All the court cases and everything being constantly dragged up and brought up into the news didn’t allow for a lot of time to heal,” he said. Pollard now works in the transportation industry but not in aviation. Former cleaner Natalie, 59, said the compensation process is bringing back “ugly memories” and described frustration with the delays. Former driver Alfredo de Vera, 60, said he lost his confidence and remains scared that sudden job loss could happen again. Former ramp supervisor Don Dixon, 65, has not had a job since being sacked at age 60. He described the six year wait as “incredibly frustrating” and “a marathon”.
Maurice Blackburn said the time frames are within those anticipated for a complex settlement administration and expects workers to be advised of estimated payment amounts shortly. The firm said processing each claim requires individual assessment rather than a single bulk calculation.
Qantas posted underlying losses before tax of A$1.8 billion (US$1.39 billion, £1.09 billion) across 2021 and 2022 as the pandemic grounded flights. It swung to a A$2.4 billion (US$1.86 billion, £1.46 billion) profit in 2023. Joyce stepped down as chief executive two months early in September 2023 amid public anger over high fares, poor service and the ghost flights scandal, in which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission fined the airline A$120 million (US$93.0 million, £72.9 million) for selling tickets on more than 8,000 already cancelled flights.
Joyce said the airline’s booking system was not designed to process automatic refunds during the pandemic, when it held 22 million bookings. Qantas held A$240 million (US$186.0 million, £145.9 million) in outstanding travel credits as of 31 December 2025, though all expiry dates have since been removed. The company also agreed to a A$105 million (US$81.4 million, £63.8 million) settlement following a class action over pandemic flight credits.
Joyce dismissed suggestions that he personally upgraded Prime Minister Anthony Albanese or his son to business class or to the Chairman’s Lounge, an invitation only club for politicians, business leaders and senior media figures. He said he had no memory of the prime minister asking for upgrades and that documentation of any upgrades he authorised would exist. He referred questions about the prime minister’s son to the prime minister’s office.
Joyce said he does not view himself as a victim of post lockdown public resentment. “Because it was part of the job,” he said of the extreme criticism he faced. He expressed concern that corporate leaders are now less willing to speak out on political and social issues, calling it “a shame because I think corporations are part of society”.
On the current geopolitical situation, Joyce said airlines would be preparing for a range of scenarios regarding the Middle East conflict. A wider conflict closing both the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea would put the industry into “really bad territory”, he said, describing a scenario comparable to “COVID without the masks” where fuel supply simply stops regardless of price.
Joyce’s successor, Vanessa Hudson, who was chief financial officer under Joyce, is now working to rebuild trust in the Qantas brand. The airline’s budget subsidiary Jetstar remains profitable and has announced new routes. Project Sunrise, the plan to connect Sydney to London with non stop flights using specially adapted Airbus A350 aircraft, appears on track for first services next year.
Joyce described writing the book as a “cathartic experience”. He said it was only in his first year after leaving the role that he realised the full intensity of the pressure he had been under. “I was the frog in the proverbial hot water and I didn’t know how hot it had gotten,” he said.