Vanessa Hudson (executive)

Vanessa Hudson (born 1969 or 1970)[1] is an Australian business executive and Chief Executive Officer-designate of Qantas, having first joined the company in 1994.[2] Since joining the airline, Hudson has served in a variety of senior positions culminating in 2023 when she was announced as the company's next CEO to succeed Alan Joyce in November 2023.[3] Hudson will become the first female CEO of Qantas.[4]

Vanessa Hudson
Born1969/1970 (age 53–54)[1]
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia[1]
OccupationChief Executive Officer-designate of Qantas
Known forBeing appointed as the first female CEO of Qantas

Career

Hudson graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 1991 with a Bachelor of Business.[2] In 1994, she was admitted as a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia.[5] After working in external audits at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu for two years, Hudson joined Qantas in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor.[1] Then she became finance controller in the commercial division of Qantas.[2]

In 1997, she was appointed as the catering product manager before being elevated to the role of executive manager of product and services in 2005.[2] As Qantas's executive manager of commercial planning, Hudson was called as a witness at an emergency Fair Work Australia hearing into the 2011 Qantas industrial disputes which affected thousands of airline passengers.[6]

Hudson relocated to Los Angeles in 2013 upon her appointment as the senior vice-president of the American arm of Qantas.[2] She returned to Australia in 2016 after becoming the company's executive manager of sales and distribution.[2] In 2018, Hudson was one of the judges to help name the Australian Financial Review "100 Women of Influence".[7]

In February 2018, she was appointed as chief customer officer before becoming the chief financial officer of the Qantas Group.[2] As chief financial officer, Hudson was required to navigate a number of challenges that faced Qantas, including Perth Airport's legal action against the airline in 2018 which was ultimately resolved in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.[8] Further challenges Hudson encountered included the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine which affected global oil prices prompting the airline to implement a hedging strategy.[9][10] In May 2023, it was announced that Hudson would succeed Alan Joyce as the chief executive officer of Qantas, becoming the first woman to lead the company.[11]

Her official appointment as Qantas CEO will occur at the conclusion of Joyce's 15-year tenure at the annual general meeting in November 2023.[3]

Personal life

Hudson is married with two adult daughters.[1]

See also

Qantas

References
  1. Whyte, Jemima; Baird, Lucas (2 May 2023). "New Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson: 'I plan to be myself'". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. The 53 year-old Sydney-born executive...
  2. Hawke, Jack; Williams, Claudia (2 May 2023). "Qantas has announced a new CEO to take over from Alan Joyce. Who is Vanessa Hudson?". ABC News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. Visontay, Elias; Barrett, Jonathan (2 May 2023). "Vanessa Hudson to replace Alan Joyce as Qantas CEO". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. "Qantas has announced a new CEO to take over from Alan Joyce. Who is Vanessa Hudson?". ABC News. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-07.
  5. Khalil, Shireen (2 May 2023). "Qantas announces new CEO Vanessa Hudson". news.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  6. "No end in sight despite urgent hearing". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 2011. The second witness, Qantas's executive manager of commercial planning, Vanessa Hudson, said the airline had taken "numerous decisions to cancel flights and also re-time flights" because of industrial action.
  7. Tattersall, Hannah (3 September 2018). "The Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence 2018 revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. The other judges were... Vanessa Hudson, chief customer officer of Qantas...
  8. Wiggins, Jenny (18 February 2022). "Perth Airport fee battle with Qantas finally resolved in court". Australian Financial Review. Qantas Group chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson said the WACC rate determined was "far too high for a low-risk monopoly infrastructure asset...
  9. Baird, Lucas (19 March 2020). "Qantas, Virgin Australia running out of options". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson was hopeful to announce the financing sometime over the next week, and Mr Joyce said lenders know Qantas is not at risk of collapsing.
  10. Whitley, Angus (8 March 2022). "Qantas Flags Higher Fares as Ukraine War Sends Oil Soaring". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 May 2023. ...Qantas Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday
  11. Housden, Tom (3 May 2023). "Vanessa Hudson: Qantas appoints first female CEO as Alan Joyce steps down". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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