Alan Joyce is back!
The former Qantas CEO has shared his truth: he's sorta sorry in hindsight.
I've had a lot of good fortune in my career, but nothing compares to the boundless gifts of Alan Joyce. I honestly owe that man so much – he is like a packet of Tim Tams that never runs out.
And now he's burst back onto the public stage, after three years of deep self-reflection, to announce that he was right. He's written a memoir, and it goes like this: Alan grew up in a brown paper bag, became Qantas CEO while still in short pants, then single-handedly changed the aviation world forever. And everything he did, he did for the good of Qantas.
As a long-time student of Joyce's extraordinary self-blindness, I knew this was going to be good, but even my wildest imaginings have been exceeded.
His interview with The Weekend Australian's Caroline Overington was the perfect start to his book tour – just as Mitchell Starc's first delivery of the 2021/22 Ashes series was the perfect start for England. Overington started by asking Joyce why he'd brought a PR minder to sit in on their conversation. "Have you ever interviewed a CEO?" came his retort.
Overington has interviewed US presidents, and her reporting of AWB's oil-for-wheat kickbacks triggered the Cole royal commission. She politely reminded Joyce he isn't a CEO, but an unemployable private citizen.
It only got worse from there.
