CEO of the Week: Vanessa Hudson, first female CEO of Qantas Airways

The company Qantas Airways Limited, headquartered in Australia, operates both domestic and international airlines.

Running a frequent flyer reward program, providing freight services, and operating domestic and international air transport services are the company’s main business lines.

The business is divided into several segments, including Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, Jetstar Group, and Qantas Loyalty.

The Jetstar Group, Qantas Domestic, and Qantas International all run airline cargo and expedited freight services in addition to passenger flights.

Customers who are loyal are rewarded by the Qantas Loyalty sector. Its primary function involves transporting passengers under the Qantas and Jetstar airline brands.

Its airline brand offers domestic, international, and regional flights. It operates in Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and the South Pacific.

Qantas Airways is sometimes referred to as Australia’s “flying kangaroo”.

For the first half of the 2023–24 fiscal year, the company now anticipates an underlying profit before tax of A$1.35–1.45 billion ($900–960 million), up from its previous guidance of A$1.2–1.3 billion provided in January 2023.

The increased profitability is driven by firm travel demand, allowing Qantas to charge higher fares that offset higher fuel costs.

The company last year named a 53 year-old finance chief Vanessa Hudson as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO), making her the first woman to lead the century-old airline.

Who is Vanessa Hudson?

1. Vanessa Hudson was born and brought up in Sydney, Australia
2. In 1991, she completed her graduation from the University of Technology Sydney with a business degree
3. The following year, she became an auditor with accounting giant Deloitte
4. She joined Qantas in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor, before becoming a financial controller in the company’s commercial division
5. In 1997 she was appointed the catering product manager, which kickstarted her time within product services and saw her ascend to the role of executive manager of product and services in 2005
6. In 2013 she moved to Los Angeles to become senior vice-president of the American airlines
7. In 2016, she returned to Sydney as the executive manager of sales and distribution, where she was responsible to present the airline’s revenue through all sales channels
8. In 2018, Hudson was appointed Chief Customer Officer (CCO), overseeing all of Qantas’s customer service and strategy
9. In 2019, she became the Qantas Group’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
10. During her tenure as CFO, her monthly salary of over A$1 million