Qantas now in recovery
Qantas is holding a series of briefings with staff and investors to try to restore stability to the airline after the failed takeover bid.
The private equity consortium Airline Partners Australia did not get enough shareholder support for the $11 billion offer and says it will not make a new one.
Qantas Chairman Margaret Jackson and board member James Packer have also announced they will retire at the company’s annual general meeting later this year.
The Transport Workers Union’s Scott Connelly hopes the briefings will outline how any future bids will be handled by Qantas.
“The management team need to clearly demonstrate that they have recognised the failure of the APA bid, they’ve recognised the failure of a short-term slash-and-grab approach to running a national airline,” he said.
Qantas pilots are also looking for some fresh clarity from airline’s management.
Peter Somerville of the Australian and International Pilots Association says pilots were not standing in the way of a takeover, and simply want to see a plan that would see them receive a slice of the action.
“Qantas and its board have made one attempt to go ahead without the staff,” he said.
“Now it’s time for a new start and to do it with the staff.
“We’ve had years of Geoff Dixon talking crisis, talking problems, talking cost-cutting, talking sacrifice.”
“We all understand that but now, after the APA bid and the amount of information that’s come out, it’s time that part of the benefits were shared with staff.”
A critical item on this week’s investor roadshow will be restoring confidence with key institutional investors who own Qantas shares.
Fund manager Peter Morgan does not own Qantas shares, but he believes that despite the noise surrounding the private equity bid, nothing has changed about the strength of the airline.
“It’s important that both sides, all sides, get together and don’t lose focus,” he said, adding, “It’s not a broken airline, it’s not a broken company.”
Even so, Mr Morgan believes the planned briefings will be critical to reminding unsettled investors that the airline’s outlook and strategy remain on track.
“If there ever was a Plan B, it needs to be instigated and I think that’s what we’ve got to go with,” he said.
“You can’t underestimate the strength of the management team nor the strength of their market position.”
Part of the Qantas strategy is now expected to be a $2 billion return to investors through a special dividend or share buyback, based on the growing value of the airline.
But that is unlikely to appease Qantas staff who still regard the board with suspicion, according to Mr Connelly.
“They’ve seen their interests with the big end of town and forgot about the workers and their families that are out there making Qantas work every single day and making it work successfully.
“They need to demonstrate and rebuild the connection between the management team and the work force, the community and the shareholders if the airline’s going to go forward.”
Report by The Mole from the ABC
John Alwyn-Jones
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