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. 

