Alan Joyce (businessman)

Alan Joseph Joyce (born 30 June 1966) is an Irish-Australian businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Qantas Airways Limited from 2008 until his resignation in 2023. Joyce retired as CEO on 5 September 2023, with Vanessa Hudson succeeding him the following day.

Early life and education
Joyce was born and raised in Tallaght, now a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. His mother was a cleaner, and his father worked in a tobacco factory. Joyce attended secondary school at St Mark's Community School in Springfield, Tallaght.

Joyce attended Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College Dublin. He graduated with Honours, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science (Physics and Mathematics) and a Master of Science degree in Management Science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Early career
In 1988, Joyce commenced work at Aer Lingus, the flag carrier of the Republic of Ireland. He held various positions in sales, marketing, information technology, network planning, operations research, revenue management and fleet planning. In 1996, he resigned to join the now-defunct Ansett Australia. In 2000, Joyce joined Qantas. At both Ansett Australia and Qantas, he headed the Network Planning, Schedules Planning and Network Strategy functions. Joyce was appointed CEO of Qantas subsidiary Jetstar Airways in October 2003.

CEO of Qantas
Joyce became CEO of Qantas on 28 November 2008, succeeding Geoff Dixon who had been in the role since March 2001. He is a former director of Orangestar Investment Holdings Pte Limited (holding company of Singapore-based Jetstar Asia Airways and Valuair) and Jetstar Pacific Airlines Aviation Joint Stock Company (in Vietnam).

2010–2011 Senate inquiry on airline safety
In 2010, a Senate inquiry into airline safety in low-cost airline practices was called. Joyce was called to testify regarding a 2007 incident that had occurred when he was CEO of Jetstar.

On 25 February 2011, at his first hearing at the Senate inquiry, Joyce insisted safety was aligned in the Qantas Group. He closed his opening statement with "Let me make this clear: at Jetstar there is no compromise on safety. The budget airline model does not require it, and we would never accept it. Qantas and Jetstar have different brands, but are completely aligned on safety. We would never compromise that."

On 24 June 2011, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, "Qantas and Jetstar intend to press ahead with their plans to fast-track relatively inexperienced co-pilots into airliner cockpits, despite a parliamentary inquiry yesterday finding against the practice", while also noting that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority had argued that "there is no evidence to suggest that [the cadet training schemes] approach has resulted in any diminution of safety standards".

2011 Qantas industrial disputes
On 29 October 2011, as a result of continuing industrial unrest following the announcement of job losses and structural changes at Qantas, Joyce grounded the entire Qantas mainline fleet.

The Australian named Joyce the most influential business leader in 2011. Yet a poll following his controversial 2011 grounding of the Qantas fleet showed the action has increased negative public perception of the airline. In 2011, Joyce's remuneration was increased 71 percent from $2.92 million in 2009–10 to $5.01 million and he was granted 1.7 million Qantas shares under a long-term incentive plan. His reported comments that his salary was "conservative" were criticised by the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA).

2016–2017 company restructuring
The Guardian reported Joyce's total pay package had doubled to $24.6m for the 2016-17 financial year, nearly twice as much as the $12.96m he received in the previous 12 months. This followed the airline announcing it will cut 5000 full-time jobs to achieve $2bn in cost reductions by the same financial year.

2017 pie attack incident
On 9 May 2017, Joyce was delivering a speech to a business breakfast event in Perth, when a lemon meringue pie was pushed into his face by Tony Overheu, a Western Australian farmer and Christian. Overheu subsequently apologised for humiliating the CEO, claiming that he pied the business figure due to his personal belief that Joyce had overstepped the line in his gay marriage advocacy and the assailant's response simply reflected community push-back. He was later convicted of common assault, trespass, causing damage to property and giving false details to police.

Later years and retirement
In May 2019, Joyce committed to three more years as the chief executive of Qantas. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Joyce gave up his salary for the rest of the financial year. In May 2023, Joyce announced that he would step aside as Qantas CEO in November, being replaced by Vanessa Hudson, the group's current CFO. On 5 September 2023, it was announced that Joyce would step down early following revelations the company allegedly continued to sell tickets for flights after they had been cancelled. In January 2024, Alan also resigned from the Sydney Theatre company.

Honours and awards

 * The Australian named Joyce the most influential business leader in 2011.
 * In 2012, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering elected Joyce to be a fellow of the association (FTSE).
 * Joyce is an ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF).
 * Joyce was named a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC), Australia's highest civil honour, in the 2017 Queen's birthday honours list. This honour was awarded for "eminent service to the aviation transport industry, to the development of the national and international tourism sectors, to gender equity, inclusion and diversity, and to the community, particularly as a supporter of Indigenous education".

Personal life
Joyce identifies as being Catholic. In 2015, he became a member of the Australian Republic Movement, which argues that Australia should replace the monarchy to become a republic with an Australian head of state.

In 2011, he was successfully treated for prostate cancer.

Joyce is openly gay and is married to his long-term New Zealander partner, Shane Lloyd. The two married on 2 November 2019, on the rooftop of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Circular Quay. The couple live in the Rocks, an inner suburb of Sydney.

LGBTI advocacy
Joyce, who is gay, supports the LGBTI community and personally donated $1 million towards the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage in Australia, which facilitated his own marriage in 2019. Joyce is the patron of the Pinnacle Foundation, an organisation which works with, "disadvantaged and marginalised LGBT Australians". For his work, he has been recognised on a global list of LGBT executives. As CEO, Joyce has pledged Qantas will "continue social-justice campaigning".