Qantas chairman praises courage of CEO’s shut-down
Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford has praised the courage of CEO Alan Joyce in his controversial approach to industrial relations, which saw the airline’s entire fleet shut down for almost two days.
Clifford, who promoted Joyce from budget offshoot Jetstar in 2008, told the Australian Financial Review, 
”I like the way he leads, and I saw that at Jetstar.
“But I particularly liked the way he could express a vision for where things might be.
“He’s not a pompous person; he’s got a degree of humility about him. But when he acts, he’s very decisive.”


But Clifford warned Joyce he needed to think about how to have good relations with the three unions he is now battling.
“I say to Alan, ‘It’s all very well to win the war,” Clifford said. “We’ve got to think about how we win the war – but also how we win the peace. And right now that’s well beyond the shore break.”


Australia’s Fair Work Tribunal ordered the termination of all Qantas strike action for 21 days to allow the unions and Qantas management to resume talks before being ordered into formal arbitration. 


But the pilots this week filed a court challenge to the strike ban, saying it was an excessive response to their low-level campaign.
The Transport Workers’ Union is contemplating a similar challenge. 

Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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