Qantas announces details of Reorganisation

Qantas today provided details of the corporate reorganization it announced two months ago.

The Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Qantas, Geoff Dixon, said the reorganisation would enable Qantas to better meet the aviation industry's considerable challenges.

"It will also provide improved performance for customers, shareholders and employees," he said.

Mr Dixon said the reorganisation involved the establishment of ten businesses:

· Four flying businesses:

- Qantas Airlines (the main international and domestic operations)
- QantasLink (the regional airline operations)
- Australian Airlines (the international leisure carrier)
- a domestic low cost carrier

· Two flying services businesses:

- Engineering Technical Operations and Maintenance Services
- Airports and Catering

· Four associated businesses:

- Freight
- Qantas Holidays
- Qantas Defence Services
- Qantas Consulting

The businesses will be supported by a Corporate Centre that will focus on corporate governance, investment decisions, performance standards and group strategies.

A shared services organisation, Qantas Business Services, will be established to provide support services to businesses within the company.

"The reorganisation will deliver a range of major benefits, including increased accountability, greater speed and quality of decision making and improved return on assets," Mr Dixon said.

"An increase in autonomy for each business will be coupled with a strong focus on performance targets to ensure each business delivers its current commitments to optimize the success of the Qantas Group.

"The new structure will also increase the growth opportunities of non-core businesses such as Freight and Qantas Holidays."

Each business will have its own profit and loss statement and balance sheet and be fully accountable for its performance and contribution to the Qantas Group.

Mr Dixon said the structural change would be complemented by an operating style that focused on accountability, collaboration and leadership.

He said a new Executive structure had been designed with the objective of ensuring Qantas continued to be managed in a safe, experienced manner while developing leaders at all levels.

The new Executive structure includes three new members - David Cox*, Alan Joyce* and Andrea Staines* - and the entire team is:

Chief Financial Officer - Peter Gregg, 48
(currently Chief Financial Officer)

As Chief Financial Officer, Peter is responsible for monitoring the financial performance of the company. In addition, he will now take responsibility for Corporate Strategy and the performance of the Corporate Centre.

Executive General Manager Qantas Airlines - John Borghetti, 48
(currently Executive General Manager Sales and Marketing)

John will be responsible for the core domestic and international airline including technical and cabin crew, sales, marketing, product, customer service and support. Operations Resources and Infrastructure, Scheduling, Pricing and Inventory Management will also report to John.

Executive General Manager Regional Airlines - Narendra Kumar, 45
(currently Executive General Manager Subsidiary Businesses)

Narendra will be responsible for all regional airline commercial and operational activities, as well as Jetconnect.

Executive General Manager Australian Airlines - Andrea Staines, 39
(currently Group General Manager Commercial, Australian Airlines)

Andrea will be responsible for all commercial and operational activities of Australian Airlines.

Executive General Manager Low Cost Carrier - Alan Joyce, 37
(currently Group General Manager Network)

Alan will be responsible for running the new low cost airline.

Executive General Manager Airports and Catering - Grant Fenn, 38
(currently Deputy Chief Financial Officer)

Grant will be responsible for Qantas' domestic and international airport and catering businesses, providing airport and catering services to Qantas and other client airlines.

Executive General Manager Engineering Technical Operations and Maintenance - David Cox, 43
(currently Group General Manager Engineering Technical Operations)

David will be responsible for providing engineering and maintenance services to the flying segments.

Executive General Manager Associated Businesses - Denis Adams, 58
(currently Chief Executive Australian Airlines)

Denis will be responsible for managing a portfolio of associated businesses within the group. Initially, this will include Freight, Qantas Holidays, Qantas Defence Services and Qantas Consulting.

Executive General Manager Fleet, Network and Alliances - Paul Edwards, 58
(currently Executive General Manager Airline Strategy and Network)

Paul will be responsible for long-term fleet strategy, network optimisation and strategic airline alliances.

Chief Information Officer and Executive General Manager Qantas Business Services - Fiona Balfour, 45
(currently Chief Information Officer)

Fiona will retain her role as Chief Information Officer and also be responsible for the corporate shared services organisation.

Executive General Manager People - Kevin Brown, 45
(currently Executive General Manager Human Resources)

Kevin will retain responsibility for all strategic Human Resource activities within the company.

Safety, Security, Legal, Audit, Government and International Relations and Corporate Communication will continue to report directly to the Chief Executive Officer.

*New Members of the Executive

David Cox

David spent his early career in research and teaching. He is an aeronautical engineer and has a Master of Science and Society degree (University of NSW). He joined Qantas in 1986 and has worked through a range of engineering, commercial, planning and operational roles including responsibility for regional airlines. David is currently Group General Manager Engineering Technical Operations and brings comprehensive technical expertise to his new role.

Alan Joyce

Alan has an extensive airline industry background having worked with Aer Lingus and Ansett. He joined Qantas in 2001. He has a Master of Science degree (Trinity College, Dublin). Alan's experience is principally in fleet and network planning and business improvements and he was actively involved in Aer Lingus' low cost strategy.

Andrea Staines

Andrea has a strong financial and commercial background that has been acquired through her experience in the finance and airline industries. Prior to joining Qantas in 1998, she was employed by American Airlines. She has an MBA (University of Michigan) and an Honours degree in Economics (University of Queensland). Within Qantas, Andrea has held a number of commercial roles prior to joining the start-up team of Australian Airlines in 2002.