Out Gay Qantas CEO Alan Joyce Announces Departure From Airline

Out gay Qantas CEO Alan Joyce announced his departure from the airline on Tuesday, paving the way for the company’s first female CEO Vanessa Hudson to take over when he retires in November 2023. 

Joyce has led Qantas for around 15 years as Group CEO. “At the Board’s request, I extended my time as CEO to see through the COVID recovery plan, so now that we’re on the other side of that crisis it’s a logical time for me to step down. There’s still a lot I want to deliver in the next six months and at the top of that list is ensuring a smooth handover to Vanessa, who I’m sure will excel in the role,” Joyce said in a statement. 

“There’s not many female CEOs in the worldwide aviation industry and it’s a credit to this country that a gay man was appointed 15 years ago to be CEO of the company,” an emotional Joyce said at a press conference on Tuesday. 

Marriage Equality Campaign

Joyce was an outspoken campaigner during the 2017 marriage equality vote and personally donated $1 million to the ‘Yes’ campaign. In October 2017, he was named the world’s most influential LGBTQI business executive. 

“As an openly gay man and being the leader of this organisation and a high profile business leader in Australia, I felt it was very important that I led by example and was out there promoting the case,” Joyce told the BBC.  Joyce married his long-term partner Shane Lloyd in 2019. 

Joyce has faced homophobic attacks, including for his support of the marriage equality campaign. In 2017, then-senior minister and current Opposition leader Peter Dutton asked the Qantas CEO to stay out of the debate and “stick to your knitting”. 

In May 2021, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie shouted homophobic slurs against Joyce, after airline staff refused her entry into the Chairman’s Lounge at Melbourne Airport. 

Qantas Success Credited To Joyce

Chairman Richard Goyder credited Joyce for steering the airline during troubled times. 

“Much of the credit for the bright future in front of Qantas goes to Alan. He’s faced more than his fair share of challenges as CEO and he’s managed them exceptionally well – from the GFC, to record oil prices, to intense competitive pressures and the COVID crisis,” Goyder said in a statement. 

“Alan has done a superb job of leading a team that is absolutely committed to the national carrier’s long-term success and it’s from that team that his successor has been chosen,” added Goyder.