Qantas has today released its Annual Report for 2016, which includes standard disclosures on Executive Remuneration.
Qantas Chairman, Leigh Clifford, said the pay for executives reflected the continued turnaround of the company and what was the best financial performance in the carrier’s 95 year history.
“Our approach to executive pay is to make sure it is closely linked to the company’s performance. When Qantas was not performing well financially, no bonuses were given, all executive salaries were frozen and the CEO took a pay cut.
“As the company has moved through its transformation the financial performance has turned around, we are able to reward our people.
“The turnaround that Alan and the executive team have managed on behalf of shareholders, customers and the 30,000 people who work at the Qantas Group is a major achievement. It has delivered more than $1.6 billion in benefits over the past two years, which excludes the impact of cheaper fuel, and put Qantas on a much more sustainable footing. It’s enabled us to continue investing for the future.
“Since the turnaround began, we’ve committed more than $160 million to recognise the efforts of our non-executive employees. We’ve also committed $1.5 billion for our shareholders through buybacks, a capital return and dividends. This is in addition to the market value of Qantas more than doubling over the past three years,” added Mr Clifford.