Yesterday Australian carrier Qantas announced the appointment of Vanessa Hudson as its first female chief executive.

After almost 29 years with the airline, the former Chief Financial Officer will take over as the boss of Australia’s national airline.

Irish-born Joyce was visibly emotional yesterday, after he made the announcement that Hudson would be his successor.

“There’s not many female CEOs in the worldwide aviation industry and it’s a credit to this country that a gay man was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company,” he said

Despite returning the airline to record profits after a long pandemic downturn, the last three years of Joyce’s career were marred by Covid-19 layoffs, flight and logistic chaos and strike action. Some would say it was  ‘because’ of the airline’s return to profit that the final months of the airline CEO’s were so controversial.

Joyce said that he had intended to step down earlier, and the Covid disruption extended his tenure as leader.

“now that we’re on the other side of that crisis it’s a logical time for me to step down,” he said.

Hudson will be taking over officially in November.

The former Aer Lingus employee joined the Qantas group and Jetstar in 2003, since then he climbed to the top of the company and in 2019 became Australia’s top paid executive.

Prior to the pandemic his annual remuneration was $24.8m more than ten times his supposed base salary as CEO. Although this was slashed by 83 per cent during the pandemic cutbacks according to Reuters.

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Vanessa Hudson will succeed Alan Joyce as chief executive of Qantas. Photo / Supplied

What can Qantas passengers expect under Hudson?

Joyce will be hoping that his time with the airline would be remembered for ultra-long haul flights. His 15 years saw the first direct flights linking Australia to Europe and the establishment of ‘Project Sunrise’ - which aimed to put Sydney within one flight of any city on earth.

In 2018 Qantas joined Perth and London Heathrow with a non-stop 787 service.

Hudson will be picking up the next stages of Qantas’ ultra-long haul ambitions.

During her three decades with the company and as VP of the Americas, she has been based out of Los Angeles and New Zealand.  It’s likely those are places the airline will be continuing to focus on.

In June Qantas will be launching a non-stop Auckland to Sydney route, in direct competition with Air New Zealand’s NZ1.

This route will be the  bridging project for Qantas’ intention to fly from New York to Sydney direct by the middle of this decade. So it’s likely Kiwis will see a lot more of the ‘flying roo’ under Hudson’s leadership.

Qantas' first class suites feature a lie-flat bed and a recliner chair. Photo / Supplied

Qantas has announced an ultra-long haul overhaul for all 12 A350s. Photo / Supplied

If NZ1′s record is anything to go by, we could still be seeing the odd divert into Auckland when Qantas makes the leap to the difficult Atlantic-to-far-Pacific route.

In accepting the role of CEO Hudson said that Qantas was  “an exceptional company full of incredibly talented people and it’s very well positioned for the future.

“My focus will be delivering for those we rely on and who rely on us – our customers, our employees, our shareholders and the communities we serve.”

Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder said he looked forward to a smooth transition to new leadership.

Goyder praised her management of the treasury portfolio and airline finances as “outstanding”, during a difficult period for Qantas.

The former CFO oversaw a long period of investment in new aircraft - such as Airbus A350s tipped to fly London to Sydney - new lounges and a revamp of the domestic Australian fleet.