Qantas Airways chief executive Alan Joyce's total pay packet has surged to $11.9m after the company swung to a profit of $557m following a record loss of $2.8bn a year ago.
The payment was significantly higher than the equivalent last year, as per Qantas’s annual report released yesterday. The bumper pay rise comes after the airline axed thousands of jobs as part of cost-cutting drive.
He was given $6.9m in shares in the 2014/2015 period as part of a long-term incentive.
His base salary was $2m as well as other share-based bonuses.
Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford said the payments to Joyce and other executives “are substantial, so deserve some explanation”.
He added: “In recent years, our poor financial performance has resulted in pay freezes for many people at Qantas. For executives, there have been no pay rises for three years, no short-term bonuses since 2013 and no long-term bonuses since 2009. Last year, Alan Joyce’s take home pay was cut by 40pc.
“The payments to executives are being made because some very tough performance hurdles have been met and exceeded.”
Qantas staff who have had an 1 year and half pay freeze were also this month offered pay bonuses.
