Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce’s compensation fell 83 per cent to 1.7 million Australian dollars (€1.05 million) in the year ended June as the airline slashed salaries and bonuses to save money during the coronavirus crisis.
Joyce went without pay from early March until August, when he started taking 65 per cent of his base salary, Qantas said in a statement Friday. He got no bonus for the fiscal year, and opted not to receive 343,500 shares tied to his long-term incentive from 2017.
Qantas is cutting as many as 8,500 jobs to weather a near-halt in income due to virus-related travel restrictions. Joyce was previously among Australia’s best-paid executives, receiving more than 6 million Australian dollars for five straight years as record earnings propelled the airline’s stock.
Joyce was the highest-paid CEO among companies in Australia’s benchmark SandP/ASX 100 Index in 2018, according to a report last year by the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors. On a so-called realised-pay basis, which includes cash and equity, Joyce was better compensated than counterparts at Macquarie Group, Treasury Wine Estates Ltd. and Newcrest Mining Ltd, according to the report.
Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder also waived his fees from early March until August. Total executive pay at the airline for the year ended June dropped 69 per cent, the company said.
Joyce’s 1.6 million Australian dollars base annual salary is expected to remain unchanged in the year ending June 2021, and he will return to full pay on November 1st, Qantas said.
- Bloomberg