Qantas to axe 850 jobs

[trippin_the_rift]

Transport minister Catherine King has raised concern about Qantas losing control of its data security with the Accenture arrangement. I just wish there was a way the govt of the day can block commercial arrangements like this under national security (and interest) without it being seen as protectionist.

What data does QF hold that you would consider national security level?

 

[offshore171]

What data does QF hold that you would consider national security level?

Name, home address, DOB, passport number, credit card etc for maybe 10 million Australian citizens?

Then there’s travel movements of VIPs.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

What data does QF hold that you would consider national security level?

Perhaps the question is… what does Qantas hold that hasn’t already been hacked?

VIP movements are a good point, as raised by offshore (fitting name given the title of the thread!)

 

[PERLHR]

It's the reality of the now era. You don't need to be in the office and certainly don't even need to be in the country. Like many of the "great nations" they are not so great anymore. They pay salaries that are in reality far to high because people thrive on supply and demand and want that house that now, costs millions to own (well with a mortgage). While that goes on other areas of the world compete in the job market. Those saying of keep jobs Australian or British or even American are not facing reality ...and the ideology of that is long gone. Yet ironically, what do the same people do when they purchase something ...they buy Chinese and the likes ...sometimes because it's the only option. Students are now being accused of using AI for University. Workers use AI instead of the thinking it out. I am sure we are all guilty. The world and how it does business is changed, is changing and will not always be "pretty".

 

[QfHrGr]

What data does QF hold that you would consider national security level?

Just frivolous wishful thinking

 

[Daver6]

Very apt article IMHO

"I can tell you why decisions like this get made in two short words – executive bonuses. When bonuses are tied to profits, company leaders make short-term decisions that benefit themselves. And the cost of long-term brand damage is really difficult to quantify, so they don’t bother."

I can tell you why Qantas sent 850 jobs to India in just two words

When bonuses are tied to profits, company leaders make short-term decisions that benefit themselves.

www.theage.com.au

It's not like the executives come up with this though. It's driven by the board and shareholders to incentives executives for the outcomes the board and shareholders want.

 

[Quickstatus]

Name, home address, DOB, passport number, credit card etc for maybe 10 million Australian citizens?

Do we think that 10 million Australians don't also share those data with foreign companies - like foreign airlines?

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Name, home address, DOB, passport number, credit card etc for maybe 10 million Australian citizens?

Then there’s travel movements of VIPs.

VIPs are flying private

On the data security front, we like to think Australia is safer digitally, but realistically, we put our faith in perception and governance. That if something goes wrong, the legal system will somehow protect us more in Australia than in India. There is comfort in that. It's the same as thinking that an Australian aircraft engineer is somehow better than someone with equal experience in another country.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

VIPs are flying private

On the data security front, we like to think Australia is safer digitally, but realistically, we put our faith in perception and governance. That if something goes wrong, the legal system will somehow protect us more in Australia than in India. There is comfort in that. It's the same as thinking that an Australian aircraft engineer is somehow better than someone with equal experience in another country.

Depends on the definition of VIP? CEOs, politicians, celebrities fly commercial.

And if you were an ultra-VIP, you’d perhaps be thinking twice after the learjet accident

 

[Melburnian1]

has any board member or executive, ever genuinely been penalised for making bad decisions at companies? They're supposedly paid the big buck because of the responsibilities and *risk* they take, but I'm not convinced they do either of those things, because they get paid well, or paid even better depending on profitability. At worst, they lose their job, get a payout and spend months on gardening leave.

The Board of listed supermarket giant Coles Ltd acted. I's not the sole Board top do similar:

Coles execs docked $1.7m in bonuses after court cases | Canberra CityNews

Coles chief executive Leah Weckert's short-term bonus has been slashed after the grocery giant lost two court cases related to promotions and unpaid overtime.

citynews.com.au

Coles executives have forfeited a total of $1.7 million because of two Federal Court cases the supermarket group lost.

In the first, Coles acknowledged underpaying salaried department store managers a total of $114 million in overtime that was due to them between 2017 and 2020.

In the other case, the Federal Court ruled that Coles’ “Down Down” discounting promotions were misleading in 2022 and 2023.

Coles took the matters seriously, chairman Peter Allen told shareholders at the annual general meeting.

The pay reductions – which apply to current and former Coles executives – don’t relate to any specific conduct by the individuals, but rather reflect Coles’ belief that they are ultimately accountable for their business areas.

Chief executive Leah Weckert had her short-term bonus reduced by 20 per cent, or $414,000.

Her total compensation still rose for the year, however and she made a total of nearly $6 million in 2025-26, up from $5.4 million in the year before.

About half of that compensation for 2025-26 was paid in cash, with the rest in shares and performance rights.

Chief operations and supply chain officer Matthew Swindells had his short-term bonus cut by $82,800 and former chief executive Steven Cain had awards withheld from vesting.

The issue of executive pay wasn’t a big topic at Friday’s annual general meeting at Melbourne Convention Centre

 

[piec]

The Board of listed supermarket giant Coles Ltd acted. I's not the sole Board top do similar:

Coles execs docked $1.7m in bonuses after court cases | Canberra CityNews

Coles chief executive Leah Weckert's short-term bonus has been slashed after the grocery giant lost two court cases related to promotions and unpaid overtime.

citynews.com.au

Coles executives have forfeited a total of $1.7 million because of two Federal Court cases the supermarket group lost.

In the first, Coles acknowledged underpaying salaried department store managers a total of $114 million in overtime that was due to them between 2017 and 2020.

In the other case, the Federal Court ruled that Coles’ “Down Down” discounting promotions were misleading in 2022 and 2023.

Coles took the matters seriously, chairman Peter Allen told shareholders at the annual general meeting.

The pay reductions – which apply to current and former Coles executives – don’t relate to any specific conduct by the individuals, but rather reflect Coles’ belief that they are ultimately accountable for their business areas.

Chief executive Leah Weckert had her short-term bonus reduced by 20 per cent, or $414,000.

Her total compensation still rose for the year, however and she made a total of nearly $6 million in 2025-26, up from $5.4 million in the year before.

About half of that compensation for 2025-26 was paid in cash, with the rest in shares and performance rights.

Chief operations and supply chain officer Matthew Swindells had his short-term bonus cut by $82,800 and former chief executive Steven Cain had awards withheld from vesting.

The issue of executive pay wasn’t a big topic at Friday’s annual general meeting at Melbourne Convention Centre

Oh no, a raise of only $600k. How will she ever recover from this?

 

[downgraded]

we put our faith in perception and governance.

Like the recent escapade where the fault with breaking in to various government systems is with the AI companies for trying, not the department that had the insecure infrastructure in the first place.

 

[SeatBackForward]

The pay reductions – which apply to current and former Coles executives – don’t relate to any specific conduct by the individuals, but rather reflect Coles’ belief that they are ultimately accountable for their business areas.

Chief executive Leah Weckert had her short-term bonus reduced by 20 per cent, or $414,000.

Her total compensation still rose for the year, however and she made a total of nearly $6 million in 2025-26, up from $5.4 million in the year before.

Remind me again how this penalised anyone?

They still got paid an astonishingly high remuneration compared to the vast majority of Australians. And to keep this relevant to Qantas, when the data leaks, systemic failures and loss of customers occurs, do you think the current crop of exec's will be held in anyway liable?

Is Alan Joyce being asked to return some of the bonuses he received for leaving Qantas in a position where it's aircraft can't support the network they want to service??

 

[Saab34]

I recall during the QF bad times Alan said he needed to pay his executives even more to ensure they don’t go somewhere else.

They always pull it back somehow, no executive works for free even if they say they are somehow doing that and taking one for the team. Dig deeper, always shuffling going on behind the scenes to ensure they still get paid well above what they are getting, incentive schemes and shares are notoriously bad for that.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I recall during the QF bad times Alan said he needed to pay his executives even more to ensure they don’t go somewhere else.

They always pull it back somehow, no executive works for free even if they say they are somehow doing that and taking one for the team. Dig deeper, always shuffling going on behind the scenes to ensure they still get paid well above what they are getting, incentive schemes and shares are notoriously bad for that.

Pay peanuts get monkeys, pay executives salary get monkeys acting as gorillas.