Qantas loyalty boss Olivia Wirth to depart, ex-PwC exec to head HR
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson’s task of rebuilding the airline’s battered reputation has become even more complex, after head of loyalty and the steward of the Frequent Flyer business, Olivia Wirth, resigned.
Last week, Ms Wirth accepted a board seat at Myer, spurring speculation she would soon depart Qantas where she lost out to Ms Hudson in the race to succeed Alan Joyce.
Qantas loyalty boss Olivia Wirth will bring a strong background in customer analytics to the board of Myer. Bloomberg
Meanwhile, ex-PwC head of culture, Catherine Walsh, joins Qantas in January to fill a newly created position, reporting to Ms Hudson as chief people officer, as flagged by The Australian Financial Review last month.
Qantas said Ms Walsh has 25 years’ experience in human resources and industrial relations, including most recently as a “member of the new leadership team driving cultural change at PwC”.
Ms Hudson thanked Ms Wirth for her contribution to the company, having grown the Qantas loyalty program by 3 million to 15 million members, as well as delivering record earnings.
Last month Ms Hudson told reporters she was prepared for Qantas executives to leave and that the airline has “an incredibly strong talent pipeline that gives me the confidence that if there is movement.”
“I recognise that there are always going to be opportunities that executives look outside the organisation and often that creates the opportunity for renewal as well,” she said.
“When I look at the talent that is within the Qantas group, executive movement creates opportunity for new, younger, energetic leaders to step up.”
Ms Wirth said before she departs in February she will deliver further improvements to the loyalty business, which was singled out at a
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