Qantas has today announced Olivia Wirth as the new Chief Executive Officer of its Loyalty business.
The change follows the resignation of current Loyalty CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who announced her departure from the Group in December last year.
Olivia Wirth has been with the airline for nine years, spending most of that time as a member of the Management Committee and with responsibility for Brand, Marketing and Corporate Affairs. She is currently the Group’s Chief Customer Officer.
Following on from this change, Vanessa Hudson will take on the role of Chief Customer Officer, joining the Group Management Committee and reporting to Group CEO Alan Joyce.
Vanessa Hudson joined Qantas in 1994 and is currently the Executive Manager of Sales and Distribution. She has held a series of customer and commercial roles at the airline, including Head of Product and Service Development, Senior Vice President of the Americas and New Zealand and General Manager of Inflight Services.
Mr Joyce said the moves, which take effect from 12 February 2018, reflect the best use of the executive talent within the Qantas Group.
“At the senior executive level we have a number of very high calibre individuals who have a deep understanding of our business, and Olivia and Vanessa are two standout examples of that,” he said.
“Olivia has been on the Group Management Committee for eight years and has very successfully led the Qantas brand, including managing the marketing function for Frequent Flyer, as part of her portfolio. It’s a business she understands well and that will benefit from her strong customer analytics and marketing experience as this part of our portfolio keeps expanding.
“Vanessa has led many key customer improvements over her 23 years at Qantas, including the introduction of Neil Perry and Rockpool into our in-flight dining and the complete re-design of our domestic check-in experience. Combined with her understanding of our network and fleet, Vanessa will lead the many initiatives happening across the Group to keep improving the experience for our customers.”
The Chief Customer Officer portfolio will retain responsibility for Group Marketing while the Corporate Affairs function will move under the Group Executive of People and Culture with a dotted line to the Group CEO.
Qantas Group Management Committee – from 12 February 2018
Alan Joyce – CEO Qantas Group
Andrew David – CEO Qantas Domestic & Freight
Gareth Evans – CEO Jetstar Group
Andrew Finch – General Counsel & Group Executive, Office of the CEO
John Gissing – Group Executive Associated Airlines & Services
Lesley Grant – Group Executive, People & Culture
Vanessa Hudson* – Chief Customer Officer (currently Executive Manager, Sales & Distribution)
Tino La Spina – CFO, Qantas Group
Rob Marcolina – Group Executive Strategy, Innovation & Technology
Andrew Parker – Group Executive Government, Industry & International Affairs
Alison Webster – CEO Qantas International
Olivia Wirth* – CEO, Qantas Loyalty (currently Chief Customer Officer)
* changed