Vanessa Hudson travel tips

Qantas has sold its remaining 12.4 percent shareholding in Australian travel agency Helloworld Travel Limited for $22 million.

The A$100m (€61m) penalty deal comes after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued the Sydney-based airline in the Federal Court last year. The commission alleged that Qantas engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8,000 flights between May 2021 and July 2022 that had already been cancelled.

Australia’s Qantas Airways said its long-serving CEO would bring forward his retirement amid a publicity firestorm over an accusation of illegal ticket sales, signaling what the flagship carrier hopes is the end of a tumultuous period.

Qantas Airways first new CEO in 15 years is Vanessa Hudson, who will take over from Alan Joyce in November. Hudson will inherit an airline that has emerged strong from the pandemic. During the first six months of the Qantas 2023 fiscal year, the airline posted an A$1.5 billion ($1.1 billion) operating profit and a 16 percent operating margin, besting its results in 2019.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, May 3. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Australia’s flagship carrier, Qantas Airways, on Tuesday named finance chief Vanessa Hudson as its next CEO, making her the first woman to lead the century-old airline.

First class travel is not going anywhere despite recent moves by several airlines to cut the posh seats from planes that fly long, intercontinental routes.

The days when most Qantas travelers to the U.S. arrived in Los Angeles to connect on to other points across the country are numbered. The airline has ordered two-dozen new long-range planes for the Asia and U.S. markets that will see it add more nonstop flights to both regions, overflying traditional gateways like Los Angeles.