Qantas shareholders have backed the airline's executive pay package, including a multi-million-dollar performance bonus for boss Alan Joyce, despite flight chaos, and the Australian share market has edged higher.
Just over 90 per cent of investors backed the executive pay plans at the company's annual general meeting as the company recovered from the impact of the pandemic.
Around 9 per cent of investors opposed the pay package.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder told the AGM that long queues, flight delays, and lost baggage were not caused by the outsourcing of baggage handlers, but by the impact of COVID-19 as sick leave surged in July.
The company is facing compensation claims from former workers after the Federal Court found it unlawfully sacked nearly 2000 ground staff and replaced them with contractors.
TWU National Assistant Secretary Nick McIntosh said Mr Joyce should resign and should not be granted performance bonuses.
"Why should shareholders continue to have faith in the chairman, the ceo, and this board given this company's reputation and customer service levels are at rock bottom," he said.
Mr Goyder said the pandemic cost the airline $7 billion in losses and more than $25 billion in revenue over two years.
Mr Joyce told the AGM that the airline will spend more than 200-million dollars to improve flight performance.
"There were too many flight delays, long call centre waits, and mishandled bags."
"Today we've released figures showing we were firmly back to pre-Covid levels of service in October, and in some cases better.
The funds will be used to roster additional crew, train new recruits and have an extra 20 planes on standby to reduce delays and cancellations.
The airline said more flights were on time and there were fewer cancellations last month, after hitting a low point in July because of high levels of sick leave and supply chain delays.
It said flight cancellations were down to 2.2 per cent, below pre-pandemic levels.
But the level of lost baggage remained at six in every 1,000 passengers.
The airline said nearly three quarters of flights departed on time, up from 69 per cent in September, despite the impact of floods in New South Wales and Victoria.
Mr Goyder told the meeting that Mr Joyce is expected to stay on as chief executive until at least the end of 2023.
"The board feels we are in good shape for CEO succession as and when that will occur," Mr Goyder told the AGM.
Qantas shares reversed their early losses, and rose by 0.3 per cent to $5.97.
ASX movers
The share market recouped its early losses bolstered by stronger miners and energy stocks helped by stronger iron ore and oil prices.
Eight of the market's 11 industry sectors finished higher, including industrials, utilities and technology firms.
Going down were healthcare companies, real estate, and financials.
The All Ordinaries index rose 0.5 per cent, to 7,089, while the ASX 200 index also gained 0.5 per cent, to 6,893.
Payments firm Block (+10.9 per cent) was the best performer on the ASX 200 after better than expected third quarter profit, while gold miner Ramelius Resources (-5.6 per cent) did the worst.
Investment company Pendal Group (-0.2 per cent) dropped after net profit fell by one third for the financial year to $113 million.
Disgraced casino group Star Entertainment said three of its businesses had received show cause notices from Queensland's gaming regulator after it was deemed unsuitable to hold a gaming licence in the state last month.
That means Star could be fined, or have its gaming licence cancelled or suspended, or a special manager could be appointed to run its operations.
Star shares rose 1 per cent to $2.98.
The Australian dollar tumbled below 63 US cents overnight but surged 1 per cent today to 63.47 US cents at 4:30pm AEDT as iron ore prices jumped.
Wall Street in the red
US stocks closed lower for the fourth session in a row as economic data showing a strong jobs market continued expectations the Federal Reserve would keep raising rates.
The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, despite slowing domestic demand and steep rate hikes by the Fed.
The Dow Jones index fell 0.5 per cent to 32,001, the S&p 500 lost 1.1 per cent to 3,720, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.7 per cent to 10,343.
Investors weighed hawkish comments from US Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell after the Fed raised interest rates yesterday for the sixth time this year to curb runaway inflation.
Mr Powell said it was premature to think about pausing rate rises and the Fed would likely raise its forecast for how high official rates would go.
Oil prices dropped as the increase in the US rates pushed up the greenback and heightened fears of a global recession that would curb fuel demand.
Brent crude oil fell 1.6 per cent to $US94.62 US cents a barrel.
Spot gold dropped to a six-month low as the dollar gained.
It fell 0.6 per cent to $US1,625.91 an ounce.
UK faces long recession
The UK central bank lifted official interest rates by 0.75 per cent from 2.25 per cent to 3 per cent, the biggest single hike in rates in more than three decades.
It said that England was facing the longest recession since records began, with the economic downturn expected to continue for another two years.
The Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said that meant borrowing costs could rise by less than expected.
"We can't make promises about future interest rates but based on where we stand today, we think Bank Rate will have to go up by less than currently priced in financial markets," Mr Bailey said.
The Bank of England expects inflation will hit a 40-year high of about 11 per cent this year, more than five times its 2 per cent target.
It thinks the UK economy is already in recession, and unemployment is expected to double by late 2025 to 6.5 per cent.
The FTSE 100 index erased its losses and rose 0.6 per cent, to 7,188 as the pound fell against the greenback.
Technology and real estate firms weighed on the market, while energy and healthcare stocks led the gains.
The DAX in Germany fell nearly 1 per cent to 13,130, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.5 per cent to 6,243.
ABC/Reuters
