Goyder to leave Qantas next year in board exodus

afr.com:

Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has bowed to shareholder pressure and agreed to leave the embattled airline’s board next year, joined by two of his fellow directors.

Maxine Brenner and chairwoman of the remuneration committee, Jacqueline Hey, have agreed to leave at Qantas’ interim result in February, while Mr Goyder will step down ahead of the 2024 annual general meeting.

Chairman Richard Goyder will leave the Qantas board by next year’s AGM. Simon Schluter

Qantas has commenced a search to appoint new directors and says committee roles will be appointed “in due course”.

Mr Goyder acknowledged the “significant reputational and customer service issues” facing Qantas and said “accountability is required to restore trust.”

“Qantas has gone through an incredibly difficult period since our operation was grounded during the pandemic. The recovery has not been easy and mistakes were made. We again apologise for those times where we got it wrong,” Mr Goyder said in a statement.

As recently as September 28, Mr Goyder told a Senate inquiry that he had held discussions with 14 of the airline’s top 20 shareholders and that he had the backing of his investors. Qantas declined to provide a list of the investors Mr Goyder was referring to in response to questions.

Last week, he met with shareholders in Melbourne, Sydney and others virtually. Industry superannuation funds HESTA, Rest and Aware Super are all understood to have significant stakes in Qantas, alongside the Future Fund.

Super funds and the Future Fund jointly hold around 30 per cent of Qantas’ shares and made no secret of their desire for the Qantas board to provide accountability for the airline’s woes.

The early exit of former chief executive Alan Joyce in September has not