Qantas in trouble over sudden departure

QANTAS, which is hemorrhaging tens of millions of dollars on long haul services to the US and Europe, is under new pressure after the sudden departure yesterday of finance chief Colin Storrie and the arrival of a former senior executive at the helm of its rival Virgin Blue.

Mr Storrie, who resigned from the Qantas board and as group chief financial officer due to ill health, leaves a significant gap in the carrier's pool of top executive talent.

His departure after just 18 months in the role was announced on the same day that the airline's former executive general manager John Borghetti was named as chief executive of Virgin Blue, replacing outgoing boss and company founder Brett Godfrey.

But while Mr Borghetti was the centre of attention at a press conference in Sydney yesterday morning, a letter was being drafted at Qantas headquarters, announcing Mr Storrie's departure.

His resignation after just 18 months is not only significant from a financial perspective but also because he was the first appointment that Alan Joyce made in September 2008 after being promoted to chief executive.

Yesterday Mr Joyce said that Mr Storrie had been "right by my side since I became CEO and his work as CFO was fundamental to the airline's current financial strength.

"He has contributed greatly to Qantas maintaining a strong financial position during his time as CFO and before that as Deputy CFO. During his time as CFO, Qantas was able to remain in profit as it weathered the global financial crisis."

Qantas is mindful that it could lose key people to Virgin and has sought to shore up the skills within its key executive team by establishing clear lines of succession.

During his six years as the third most senior ranking Qantas executive Mr Borghetti was charged with running the airline's domestic and international networks and ran his own hand-chosen team of managers.

Yesterday, after being anointed as the replacement for Mr Godfrey, Mr Borghetti dismissed speculation that he would bring his own team to Virgin. He starts his new job on May 8.

Mr Borghetti gave little away and refused to flag what changes he was likely to make when he takes the controls of the business after a world tour where he will visit overseas airline partners and other parts of the far flung Virgin empire run by major shareholder Sir Richard Branson.

Source