Qantas has trashed its brand so badly lately you could almost feel sorry for it – almost – but then it makes an announcement that takes your breath away.
It appears chief executive Alan Joyce and senior executives have asked for multimillion-dollar bonuses.
According to Travel Weekly, Mr Joyce set three performance hurdles for himself. Yes, that’s right, his own performance hurdles, to receive shares worth more than $4 million.
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A shareholder advice group ISS has accused Qantas of setting insufficiently challenging performance targets. ISS is the only proxy group not recommending accepting the bonuses.
A Qantas spokesperson said Mr Joyce hadn’t had a pay rise since 2018. Mr Joyce takes home $2.27 million base pay a year, so it’s hard to feel sorry for him.
“Our executives weren’t paid annual bonuses in [financial year] 2022, for the third consecutive year, and their contracted base pay remained frozen,” the spokesperson said.
“Overall, their pay was 64 per cent what it was pre-COVID.”
It comes in the same week that Qantas won a Shonky award from consumer watchdog CHOICE.
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“If there ever was a company that appeared to deliberately be going out of its way to win a Shonky award, it’s Qantas” said CHOICE travel expert Jodi Bird.
Ouch.
CHOICE slammed Qantas on almost every front including delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, call waiting times and the degree of difficulty in redeeming flight credits.
Qantas is under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for delayed and cancelled flights, claiming the airline was “unrealistic” about the number of flights it could serve coming out of the pandemic.
CHOICE also made a formal complaint to the ACCC about Qantas and Jetstar flight credits and the “unfair” restrictions on redeeming them.
CHOICE claims Qantas is holding about $1.4 billion in unused flight credits and future bookings but Qantas’ onerous redemption rules combined with extended wait times for customer support have severely impacted travellers, many of whom have given up trying to release flights credits or a refund.
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According to the airline, as of April 2022, only about 7 per cent of Qantas credit holders have used their credits.
Earlier this year, Mr Joyce called the airline’s credit system “generous”.
“People have until December 2023 to use any outstanding flight credits and they can use them either on domestic or international flights,” Mr Joyce said.
“It’s the most generous policy we’ve had on credits and it’s great to see people starting to use them as travel comes back.”
Qantas’ conditions for redemption include that customers can only use their credits for flights that cost the same or more than the original fare if they booked it after 30 September 2021.
If they book a flight that costs less, passengers must buy a new ticket.
Have you tried to redeem a flight credit from Qantas? What was your experience? Why not share your tips in the comments section below?
