Qantas paid Joyce $2.3 million for two months as brand decayed

Former Qantas Airways Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce was paid A$3.4 million ($2.3 million) for little more than two months’ work before he left the airline early with its brand in tatters and was stripped of almost half his previous compensation.

Qantas last month had tried to draw a line under Joyce’s pay for the year ended June 2023, docking A$9.3 million from his final payout. Joyce quit in September 2023 with Qantas’ reputation, and his own, in pieces.

But the airline’s annual report, released on Thursday, show Joyce’s final weeks at the helm were some of the most lucrative of his career. He earned more than a million dollars a month, even as passengers vented at service levels and the regulator accused Qantas of selling tickets on flights it had already canceled.

Joyce received base pay of A$381,000 from July 1 to Sept. 5, the day he prematurely ended his 15-year tenure. He also pocketed A$3.15 million under a long-term incentive plan. His package for the preceding year was A$14.9 million.

Joyce’s successor, Vanessa Hudson, received A$4.4 million for the year ended June 2024, the annual report said.

An internal review released last month of the damaging events that led to Joyce’s departure concluded there was excessive deference toward the former CEO. There was too much focus on financial goals and too little on customers and staff, the review found.