Has Qantas changed?

The final comeuppance of Qantas in Justice Michael Lee's courtroom on Monday was a helluva long time coming. His Honour's original judgment, ruling that Qantas had illegally sacked 1,800 baggage handlers, was handed down in July 2021. The proceedings had been commenced by the Transport Workers' Union in December 2020.  

As ever with Lee J, it was worth the wait. After no fewer than 10 judges of higher courts unanimously upheld his decision and the case returned to the Federal Court, his Honour last year ordered Qantas to pay those former baggage handlers $120 million of compensation. As of Monday, Qantas can add to that a record $90 million penalty. 

By almost a factor of 10, this was the biggest breach of Australia's industrial relations laws since they were first enacted in 1904. Just think about that for a second. 

Looking through his enchanted spectacles, Alan Joyce still imagines he'll be remembered as an Australian business legend, the man who delivered Qantas from ruin and led the nation to marriage equality. Those things are part of his story, but the fact foremost in the history books will be that on his watch, Australia's most loved and respected company became a generational outlaw and pariah.