Alan Joyce and Qantas

The Trials and Transformation of an Australian Icon

By: Dr Peter Harbison, Derek Sadubin

Narrated by: Laurence Brewer

The twists and turns of the last 15 years of the Qantas story contain all the ingredients of a corporate thriller, with constant shocks to the system, and boardroom dramas and disasters narrowly avoided. During this tumultuous period, as CEO of Australia's iconic airline, Alan Joyce became one of the best-known corporate figures in Australia, and one of the most polarising.

He's had to steer the company through cyclones and bushfires, volcanic ash clouds and a tsunami, a pandemic, two fleet groundings, intense union battles and a bitter turf-war. He's been through mass sackings, defections from his inner circle, calls for his resignation, personal bust-ups and betrayals, and question-marks over the survival of the company.

He's been vilified in the media and lauded in the corporate world, copped a pie in the face, battled homophobia, fought for diversity, endured death threats, Senate grillings, a cancer scare, record-high oil prices, record-low customer ratings, wildly fluctuating interest rates and share prices, huge profits and crippling losses, and a horrific period of post-COVID recovery.

By any standard, it's been a remarkable ride. Through it all, Qantas has emerged a transformed airline, wearing some scars but more fit for purpose than ever, primed for the future. Throughout, the Aussie-Irishman Joyce has been unerringly true to his principles - personal and professional. But what will his legacy be when the contrails of his tenure fade?

Global aviation expert Peter Harbison tells the full and unvarnished story of this fascinating period of the Qantas journey, through the insights and anecdotes of business leaders, politicians, union bosses, analysts, media critics, rivals and insiders - and the man at the helm through it all: Alan Joyce.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Peter Harbison and Derek Sadubin (P)2023 Penguin Random House Australia Audio

fascinating and curiosity-provoking

As someone who has been peripherally aware of - in general - the airline industry's transformations over the years,..

and - in particular - peripherally aware of Alan Joyce's part in the story...

...this book has been both fascinating reading and a curiosity-provoking education.

Harbison and Sadubin deftly thread together an explanatory tapestry that is held together by a central narrative tracking Joyce's career. Joyce is a compelling figure, but so too is the context of an industry undergoing disruption driven in part by world events and history we have all lived through.

The authors seek to make sense of it all, exploring the world stage, the local level, and key figures including, most of all, Joyce himself. The unfolding complexities are pulled together in a way that is easy to follow since they're in service of a single sense-making exercise. Along the way I found myself learning a lot, and stimulated with an appetite to learn even more.

The narrator is easy to listen to and the book is well suited to the audiobook format.