Stephen Byron says Alan Joyce's Qantas departure 'changes nothing'

In tight vote late on Tuesday, the Senate backed the Opposition's proposal for a committee to inquire into all government decisions made in the last 12 months regarding extra flights to the major airports, which will include the Qatar move.

The government fought against the probe, which will add to the pressure it is under regarding the decision, which has been heavily criticised by competition experts and rival airlines to Qantas over claims it will keep airfares high.

In Parliament on Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said there was "nothing unusual" about the Qatar decision.

The prime minister said airline access was negotiated between governments and there is " nothing unusual whatsoever about agreements not just being ticked and flicked between countries".

"My government supports competition, but global aviation is not a free-for-all," he said.

Earlier, Canberra Airport chief executive Stephen Byron warned Qantas would need to undertake a "massive transformation" if it is to regain the public's trust.

Mr Byron, who has been a strident critic of the carrier's poor service on the crucial Canberra-Sydney route, said the departure of controversial Qantas boss Alan Joyce "changes nothing unless Qantas stops gouging its customers and lowers airfares".

In a statement issued earlier on Tuesday, Qantas announced Mr Joyce would retire on Wednesday, two months earlier than expected, "to help the company accelerate its renewal".

Admitting that his position was no longer tenable, Mr Joyce said that "in the last few weeks the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority".

"The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job," he said.

His departure came days after the consumer watchdog launched legal action against the airline over allegations it sold tickets on more than 8000 flights it had already cancelled.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission accuses Qantas of cancelling almost one in four flights scheduled between May and July 2022 and taking on average 18 days to inform ticketholders of the cancellations - and up to 47 days in some cases.

The extraordinary claims come at a tough time for the carrier, which is already under sustained attack over high rates of flight cancellations, poor customer service and accusations of anti-competitive conduct.

Among those hardest hit by Qantas' recent behaviour have been travelers between Canberra and Sydney. In July, the airline cancelled 11 per cent of flights - more than on any other route in the country.

Mr Byron has previously savaged the airline's performance, describing it as a "national disgrace".

Qantas said it took the ACCC allegations seriously.

On Monday, it repeated its claims that the period cited by the watchdog in its legal action was "one of well-publicised upheaval and uncertainty across the aviation industry, as Qantas struggled to restart post-COVID".

"We openly acknowledge that our service standards fell well short and we sincerely apologise. We have worked hard to fix them since and that work continues," it said.

Incoming chief executive Vanessa Hudson, who assumes the top job on Wednesday, told staff in a video that the airline was facing "another challenging time".

"We know that post-COVID we haven't always delivered to what our customers expect, but we are listening and we hear what they are saying," Ms Hudson said.

The new CEO said company would work to strike the right balance "between looking after our customers, you, our people, and the business itself".

The Qantas share price fell just 0.2 per cent on the day to close at $5.64 a share.

READ MORE:

While the senate investigation is yet to get underway, Mr Byron called for specific action by the carrier.

He said current "sky high" airfares were beyond the reach of ordinary Australians and Ms Hudson should immediately announce a pricing review.

The airport boss said the new Qantas leadership also needed to commit to reducing current "unacceptably high" flight cancellation rates, particularly on the Canberra-Sydney route, as well as refund $500 million of flight credits.

"Qantas must commit to telling the truth to its customers about cancellations and delays (and not falsely blame others) and also about airfares," Mr Byron said. "The days of airfares going up due to oil prices rising but then staying up when oil prices come down must end."

The action being taken against the airline by the ACCC could also prove expensive for the airline.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said on Monday that the consumer watchdog was seeking substantial damages to be awarded against the airline over its behaviour.

Ms Cass-Gottlieb told ABC radio she wanted a record penalty for the carrier, and nominated an amount in excess of $250 million - more than double the largest sum so far awarded for a breach of Australia's consumer law.

Qantas has claimed that many flight cancellations have been due to weather an other external causes.

But Ms Cass-Gottlieb said that allegation was that "Qantas made many of these cancellations for reasons that were within its control, such as network optimisation including in response to shifts in consumer demand, route withdrawals or retention of take-off and landing slots at certain airports".