He is doing better than Dixon, who lately on TV has looked like he just got out of bed after a massive night out. Very unprofessional and not particularly reassuring to the public either.

Qantas could sure do with "the luck of the Irish" these last few days:)

CJ

My guess is dissociation with the private equity sale was a consideration.

An article in today's Melbourne Age (sorry, can't locate a link) suggested, among other things, that Joyce is very much from the G Dixon school of industrial relations. And I heard a QF engineer on the radio yesterday morning, when asked about the new boss, use words like 'awful' and 'bully'.

So looks like interesting times may continue at QF.

"Joyce promotion to top job breaks up Qantas club". Big article on front page of the AFR today about the appointment of Joyce. One of the most interesting reports on QF I have read in ages. As you need to subscribe to AFR to read online, I have summarised points below:

- external candidates were considered, including NAB's australian chief Ahmed Fahour (previous QF dealings)
- Joyce presented a 2 hour pitch to the board, Gregg/Borghetti did not get the opportunity. Some analysts saying this was unfair, the chairman says Joyce was already the favourite by then, and explains his reasons.
- Gregg expected to resign real soon, not happy. Board felt he would have been more of the same. Large shareholders not so happy that he will now leave, as has done a good job on the finance side.
- Borghetti expected to stay which is good for continuity.
- Clifford very hands on (as has been reported elsewhere), feels that the board is tainted by the APA affair, and that a change was needed to break the "old boys culture". Also is younger than the other two, so considered better able to cope with change in the industry.

All in all it was a fairly balanced, well structured article and is well worth a read if you have a copy in the office. Makes a nice change from the recent QF media "reporting".