QANTAS Airways management endured a series of angry questions at the carrier’s annual shareholders’ meeting, with investors criticising everything from the “ghost flights” scandal to poor customer service.

Shareholders have also overwhelmingly voted against the airline’s pay report, chairman Richard Goyder said as he opened the meeting in Melbourne on Friday (Nov 3).

“It’s clear there has been a substantial loss of trust in the national carrier,” Goyder said in his opening address. “We hear the message this strong vote sends, particularly in response to broader frustration with past events, and it galvanises our efforts to restore your confidence.”

While the vote against the pay report is non-binding and largely symbolic, it is one of the few ways shareholders have to show their disapproval of the company’s performance. Under what is known as the “two-strikes rule”, if shareholders vote down the report again at next year’s meeting, a vote is then called as to whether all board members need to stand for re-election.

Shareholders then questioned Goyder about the airline’s retention of Covid flight credits, the loss of expired frequent flyer points, the suspension of dividend payments and steps that are being taken to improve customer service. At one stage, Goyder shut down a question about former chief executive officer Alan Joyce’s sale of shares earlier this year, invoking cries of “shame on you” from some members of the audience.

Goyder, who has chaired the airline for five years, has already flagged he will leave before next year’s annual general meeting as part of a boardroom overhaul to repair its public standing. Fellow directors Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire at the half-year results in February after decade-long tenures, and Michael L’Estrange’s term finishes on Nov 3.

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New CEO Vanessa Hudson reiterated the airline has listened to shareholders, customers and workers about their complaints.

“Reflecting on what I’ve heard, the disappointment and frustration is clear,” Hudson said. “For that, we have sincerely apologised to our customers and people, and I apologise to you, our shareholders, today.”

Australia’s competition regulator is seeking a record fine of more than A$250 million (S$219 million) after suing Qantas for allegedly selling seats on thousands of cancelled flights last year.

Qantas earlier this week rebutted the allegations, saying they “ignore the realities of the aviation industry” and cancelled flights do not equate to the airline obtaining a “fee for no service” because customers were re-booked on other flights or refunded.

The suit prompted an early end to Joyce’s 15-year tenure as CEO – he was originally due to step down after Friday’s meeting. He had previously attracted vociferous public anger for the airline’s lack of reliability as travel boomed after pandemic-era restrictions were lifted.

The carrier has also been criticised for retaining more than A$500 million of Covid flight credits, and posting a record profit on the back of hefty fare increases in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis.

In September, Australia’s highest court ruled Qantas illegally fired almost 1,700 ground workers during the pandemic, while the company has also come under pressure for its role in the government’s decision to block more Qatar Airways flights into Australia. BLOOMBERG