Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce has revealed he has been told to take a sabbatical following his abrupt departure from the airline, but is refusing to discuss his time at the national carrier.
Outside his $20 million apartment in Sydney’s The Rocks on Thursday, the 58-year-old spoke warmly about his life after Qantas but said he was legally prevented from discussing what he did at the airline.
Asked directly: “What would you say to Australians upset by the damage to Qantas’ reputation and customer service under your watch?” Mr Joyce said: “I can’t speak, I’m legally prohibited from answering that.”
He also declined to comment on the $9 million bonus that was cut from his pay after a scathing review last week blamed him for damaging the airline’s reputation.
However, Mr Joyce, standing alongside her husband Shane Lloyd, spoke happily to Daily Mail Australia about what was to come.
He said he would work as a director for the Sydney Theatre Company and do charity work, “but I’ve been told I have to take a sabbatical,” he said, nodding at Mr Lloyd, who smiled.
Mr Joyce and Mr Lloyd are also leading a scholarship competition on their behalf for LGBTQIA+ Australian playwrights to work in New York.
Former Qantas boss Alan Joyce (right), on Thursday with his husband Shane Lloyd (left), says he has been advised to take a year off but declined to give details of his response to Australians angry at the national carrier.
Alan Joyce, 58, chatted amiably about life after Qantas, his future plans and his break from corporate life, but said he was restricted from speaking about his $9 million bonus cut.
Having led Qantas as chief executive for 15 years before stepping down in September last year, Mr Joyce has faced intense criticism over cancelled flights, lost luggage and accusations of exploiting customers with exorbitant prices.
Last week’s review by former McKinsey partner Tom Saar and commissioned by Qantas concluded that the damage to the airline’s reputation was largely due to “too much deference” to a long-serving CEO.
“The group had a ‘command and control’ leadership style with centralised decisions and an experienced and dominant chief executive,” the report said.
The review concluded that while there were no deliberate findings of wrongdoing, the airline’s management errors caused “significant reputational and customer service issues.”
Alan Jones was heavily criticised at Qantas’ review of his tenure at the airline before it docked him $9.26 million, but speaking outside his $20 million Sydney apartment on Thursday, he declined to comment.
As a result, the national carrier reduced Mr Joyce’s bonus by $9.26 million.
An update to Qantas’ 2023 financial year executive remuneration last week revealed Joyce had his $8.36 million long-term bonus for 2021-2023 removed and his $900,000 short-term incentive cut by a third.
Mr Joyce, an Irish-born Australian from humble beginnings in Dublin, earned about $150 million during his tenure at Qantas.
In June last year, Joyce also sold $17 million worth of Qantas shares, just days after the airline provided details of cancelled flights to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Alan Joyce and his husband Shane plan to combine the penthouse and sub-penthouse apartments into a single five-bedroom home, each with a private bathroom and world-class views.
Mr Saar’s report criticised the move, concluding that “there should be additional scrutiny of proposed share transactions by the CEO and members of the group’s leadership team”.
Since Joyce left Qantas in September 2023, he and his husband have been dividing their time between their home in Whale Beach and their penthouse in The Rocks.
Mr Joyce bought the luxurious five-bedroom Whale Beach home in 2017, which sits on a cliff-top block overlooking the sea.
They also own two apartments at The Rocks: the sub-penthouse and the upstairs penthouse.
While Mr Joyce enjoys his ‘year off’, renovations are reportedly underway to convert the space into six bedrooms, all with en-suite bathrooms, so the couple can accommodate their relatives coming from abroad.
Both apartments offer world-class views of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, and together would be worth more than $20 million.
Last month, he and Mr Lloyd sold their stunning waterfront home in the exclusive suburb of Mosman, which boasted a private jetty.
They had purchased the property in 2022 for $19 million and spent millions on renovations before selling it for just under $21 million.
Alan Joyce’s mother Colette, pictured above with her late father Maurice, is in her 80s and still resides in her hometown of Dublin.
Mr. Joyce attributes his education and work ethic to his parents, who left school at age 12 and worked various jobs.
Her mother, Colette, is in her 80s and a retired swim centre cleaner living in Dublin.
His late father, Maurice Joyce Snr, worked as a postman, glazier and tobacco factory worker.
Mr Lloyd has family in New Zealand.