Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is set to write a memoir, with his agent confirming plans for a book about his career as head of the national carrier.
Founder and Managing Director of Robert Joske Management, Robert Joske OAM, announced this year he would be representing Mr Joyce on an ‘exclusive basis’.
Mr Joske on Monday confirmed he was talking to book publishers on behalf of Mr Joyce as the former Qantas boss was writing a memoir.
‘Of course,’ Mr Joske told The Australian Financial Review.
‘There’s a lot of interest from publishers.’
Mr Joyce was first appointed as Qantas’ top boss in 2008 and led the national carrier until he stepped down in September 2023 – just two months shy of his previously announced departure date.
In his 15-year stint as the airline’s CEO, Mr Joyce faced intense criticism and was the subject of a number of controversies.
In 2011, Mr Joyce controversially grounded all flights to curb union disputes over power and wages.
Former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is set to write a memoir, with his agent confirming plans for a book about his 15-year stint as head of the national carrier
The decision was polarising but the vitriol soon turned to admiration as shareholders watched Qantas’ price skyrocket from $1.17 in 2014 to $7.34 by the end of 2019.
In 2020, the airline teetered on the brink of collapse after the Australian government banned domestic and international travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Joyce used $2.7billion in Australian taxpayer funds – including $900million in JobKeeper payments, cash for repatriation flights and a share of the government’s $1.2billion aviation support package – to keep the airline afloat.
Qantas had also illegally sacked 1,700 ground crew and staff during the pandemic period.
In 2022, Qantas rushed its aircrafts back into the air to meet a soaring demand for travel following the Covid-19 pandemic.
While demand for flights was at an all-time high, so was customer dissatisfaction – as it became impossible for passengers to redeem their credits due to an overloaded call centre and mass flight cancellations.
By June the same year, Qantas had cut a further five per cent of capacity on top of the 10 per cent it had already announced – allegedly in response to rising fuel costs.
The airline was then able to inflate ticket prices by more than 40 per cent, recording a $2.5billion profit three months later in September.
Mr Joyce (pictured in 2023) also faced accusations he influenced the Albanese Government’s to reject Qatar Airways’ proposal to expand into Australia during his time as CEO
Mr Joyce was also accused of playing a central role in preventing Qatar Airways from expanding into Australia.
The Albanese Government rejected a proposal from Qatar Airways to add an extra 28 Australian routes on July 10, 2023.
Experts believed Qatar’s expansion would have reduced airfares by 40 per cent and could have boosted the country’s tourism industry by a whopping $788million.
On several occasions, Mr Albanese and Transport Minister Catherine King had met with former Qantas boss Alan Joyce in the lead up to Qatar being blocked.
Mr Albanese denied the accusations and vehemently claimed his relationship with Mr Joyce was a strictly professional one.
The pair’s relationship was called into question in the book The Chairman’s Lounge, written by former Australian Financial Review columnist Joe Aston in 2024.
The book sold around 60,000 copies and alleges Mr Albanese personally approached Mr Joyce to get dozens of free Qantas flight upgrades.
Mr Albanese has vehemently denied that he had directly contacted the CEO to seek upgrades and said he booked flights using Qantas’ booking system.
Mr Joyce was also the subject of Peter Harbison’s 2023 book Alan Joyce & Qantas – where he and most of the airline’s executives were interviewed.
