The Qantas Group Today announced that the CEO of Qantas International, Tino La Spina, will step down due to the prolonged grounding of aircraft. The Australian national flag carrier said, Mr. La Spina would be leaving his post as the airline continues to grapple with the fallout brought on by the coronavirus crisis.
According to a statement posted on its website, Alan Joyce, Qantas CEO, said Tino La Spina, will leave the group after 14 years “in light of what is likely to be the extended grounding of this part of the airline”.
“The COVID crisis is forcing us to rethink our business at every level. It’s increasingly clear that our international flights will be grounded until at least mid-2021, and it will take years for activity to return to what it was before. Under those circumstances, we’ve made the decision to consolidate the domestic and international business units under a single divisional CEO.
“Tino has done a superb job throughout his 14 years at Qantas. He’s a talented executive who brings his trademark enthusiasm to every challenge. I know I speak for the rest of the executive team and for the Board in thanking him sincerely for the huge contribution he has made, particularly as Deputy CFO and then CFO for most of that time.”
The changes announced in the press release will take effect from September 1, 2020.
The airline added that La Spina’s responsibilities will be transferred to Qantas Domestic CEO, Andrew David, when he leaves at the end of the month.
Last week, the airline announced plans to cut 6,000 jobs due to the coronavirus crisis. Around 4,000 of its 6,000 planned job cuts are expected to be finalised by the end of next month.
Since the outbreak of the virus, Qantas has sent its 12 Airbus A380s to the Mojave Desert in California, where they are expected to remain for at least three years. Given the Australian carriers’ predicted timeline for the resumption of international flights, Qantas now plans to send nine of its 11 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to join the A380s in California.
Around 20,000 Qantas employees are currently furloughed with the airline looking to lay off 6,000 people from its pre-COVID-19 workforce of 29,000. Qantas also announced today that following a three-month freeze of executive pay, its bosses would start taking a reduced paycheck. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce will begin to receive 65% of his previous salary while other executives will get 85% of their former wage. While the top people at Qantas will start receiving remuneration again, there will be no bonuses allocated for the 2020 financial year.
Source: simpleflying.com