LONDON – The Qantas Group has announced today that the new Jetstar CEO will be Stephanie Tully. It follows the group’s previous announcement back in June that the current CEO Gareth Evans would be leaving the position by the end of 2022.
Who Is Stephanie Tully
Ms Tully had been with the national carrier Qantas since 2004 and worked in multiple operational, commercial, marketing and customer loyalty functions, in progressively more senior roles.
She has been a Group Executive and Chief Customer Officer since 2019 and faced what many would argue has been the most trying of times for any customer officer with nearly all of her time in the role taking place over the global COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the press release from the Qantas Group, this will mean that the carrier will appoint Markus Svensson to the Chief Customer Officer role, which will also see him become a member of the group executive committee who all report to the group CEO Alan Joyce.
Comments From Group CEO Alan Joyce
Announcing the changes, Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “These appointments come at an important time for us. The team is working incredibly hard to overcome challenges facing the whole industry as it gets back on its feet, and the data shows we’re almost there.
“Managing this kind of executive renewal internally means we keep our momentum and can leverage a huge amount of corporate knowledge, including through the transition.
“Stephanie has worked across several different parts of the airline, from crewing to marketing, and has a deep understanding of customer experience. She’s an outstanding leader and she’ll be leading a very experienced senior team at Jetstar to keep building on the strengths of that business.
“Markus has navigated incredible levels of complexity in recent years, managing most of the commercial elements of the Qantas network through several waves of lockdown and recovery, and also managing our relationships with alliance partners around the world. His knowledge of airlines means he understands the many elements that have to work to deliver exceptional customer service, which is a key focus for us.
“Gareth has been a superb member of the Qantas Group Executive team for many years. We’re pleased to have his knowledge and experience in the months ahead to help with this transition and key projects in our recovery.”
Important Time For Qantas Group
The appointment of Ms Tully into the role being announced this month is an important point being made by the Qantas Group, which now must face the rising demand for summer travellers during the holiday periods in the coming months.
It was reported by some media outlets that the passenger and travel numbers in Australia have now even started to close in on their pre-pandemic numbers, which will of course place some strain on the group as it like many other countries will struggle with staff shortages.
With Ms Tully now the leader of Jetstar, it will be during her time that the group undergoes its fleet revamp, with Qantas and Jetstar expecting to take delivery of their new Airbus aircraft in the coming years, not only this but she will also be the one charged with looking into how the carrier can help reduce its carbon footprint, with the needed for carbon neutrality becoming more and more prevalent each day.
