The pilots union working for the Australian airline Qantas has called on the company’s president to resign after a series of scandals that have drawn strong criticism from travelers, regulators, lawmakers and its employees.
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents most of Qantas’s nearly 3,000 pilots, wrote in a letter to the airline’s new CEO Vanessa Hudson on Tuesday demanding the resignation of chairman Richard Goyder, saying morale “has never been lower.” time ago”. .
Captain Tony Lucas, president of the International Boxing Federation, said in a statement: “We have completely lost confidence in Goyder and his board of directors.”
“Qantas urgently needs cultural change, but how can this happen with Richard Goyder as chairman?”
Qantas declined to comment and referred Reuters to Goyder’s previous public statements in which he refused to resign.
Goyder, who has served as chairman of the airline’s board of directors since 2018, will not run for re-election at the annual meeting in November.
With the addition of its pilots, the airline that sells three out of every five Australian domestic airfares has come under public attack from almost every stakeholder group in the wake of a series of scandals that led to the early retirement of long-serving former CEO Alan Joyce.
Within a few weeks, Qantas was accused of lobbying the federal government to stop rival Qatar Airways from selling more flights to Australia, and was sued in an antitrust lawsuit alleging it had sold tickets for thousands of canceled flights. A lawsuit was filed in court. . They illegally fired 1,700 ground crew members.
That sparked criticism from lawmakers, unions, investors and consumer groups, and overshadowed the record annual profits announced by the so-called flying kangaroo last month.
“Qantas has a lot of work to do to repair the damage to its reputation, both in terms of staff and customers,” Australian Prime Minister Albanese told reporters when asked about the pilots’ demand that Goyder be allowed to leave.
The AIBA did not say who should replace Goyder, nor what it would do if he remained president.
Meanwhile, Qantas warned on Monday that continued high oil prices were leading to higher fuel costs, prompting analysts to cut earnings forecasts.
Qantas shares fell 1.3% in morning trading on Tuesday to their lowest level in a year, compared with a 0.5% decline in the broader index.
