Transurban boss Scott Charlton to take top job at Sydney Airport
Infrastructure dealmaker Scott Charlton will leave tollroad group Transurban at the end of November to run Sydney Airport as the nation’s biggest airport lobbies Canberra to stop airlines hoarding take off and landing slots.
Transurban boss Scott Charlton will leave the tollroad group at the end of November to run Sydney Airport. Eamon Gallagher
Mr Charlton will leave Transurban a month earlier than planned to succeed Geoff Culbert as the boss of Sydney Airport from December 1, which was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange last year after being acquired in a $23.6 billion takeover led by IFM Investors and New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners.
His appointment will create even more challenges for new Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson, who is already snowed under as she deals with fury from politicians and consumers furious at allegations that the airline sold tickets on thousands of cancelled flights and illegally sacked almost 2000 workers.
Mr Charlton’s experience as an engineer, banker and chief executive of one of Australia’s biggest listed companies, Transurban, means he is highly experienced at negotiating with politicians.
He is likely to lobby hard on behalf of Sydney Airport in Canberra to secure regulatory changes that could make it harder for airlines like Qantas and Virgin Australia to hoard slots and cancel flights without good reason.
Sydney Airport chairman David Gonski said Mr Charlton would bring commercial, operational and project delivery experience and “a deep understanding of government and the Australian regulatory environment.”
At Transurban’s annual general meeting on October 19, chief financial officer Michelle Jablko will take the helm from Mr Charlton who will finish at the
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