Qantas chief Dixon leaves with US$12 million handshake

QANTAS CEO Geoff Dixon has been replaced by Jetstar chief Alan Joyce after eight years as the head of Australia's flag carrier.

Mr Dixon stepped down at the annual general meeting with US$12.2 million 2007/08 pay package as company chairman Leigh Clifford told shareholders of the difficult economic times facing the carrier.

Qantas has seen a deterioration in booking intakes over recent weeks, particularly in international markets reflecting this challenging global economic environment and the impact of exchange rate movements, Mr Clifford said.

It is impossible to predict how long the crisis will last or what specific implications it will have for the Australian economy, and for Qantas. What we do know is that Qantas must deal with high degrees of volatility in both the fuel price and in foreign exchange values, said Mr Clifford

An Agence France-Presse report said Mr Dixon felt the best way forward for Qantas would be to join consolidation trends in the aviation industry. "The goal will be to position Qantas for the full modernisation of the industry, and enable this great Australian company to succeed as a great global enterprise," said Mr Dixon.

Qantas said it now expects pre-tax profit to fall 64 per cent to around $500 million in the year to June 2009 from $1.4 billion in fiscal 2008.

The Australian flag carrier said it plans to reduce capacity to the equivalent of grounding 10 planes.

Source: Shipping Gazette