Aussie airline Qantas has announced the appointment of Olivia Wirth as the new CEO of its loyalty business.
The change follows the resignation of current loyalty CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, who announced her departure from Qantas in December last year.
Wirth has been with the airline for nine years, spending most of that time as a member of its management committee and with responsibility for branding, marketing and corporate affairs. She is currently Qantas’ chief customer officer.
Following on from this change, Vanessa Hudson will take on the role of chief customer officer, joining Qantas’ group management committee and reporting to CEO Alan Joyce.
Hudson joined Qantas in 1994 and is currently the executive manager of sales and distribution.
Joyce said the moves, which take effect from 12 February 2018, reflect the best use of the executive talent within the Qantas Group.
“At the senior executive level, we have a number of very high-calibre individuals who have a deep understanding of our business, and Olivia and Vanessa are two standout examples of that,” he said.
“Olivia has been on the group management committee for eight years and has very successfully led the Qantas brand, including managing the marketing function for Frequent Flyer, as part of her portfolio.
“It’s a business she understands well and that will benefit from her strong customer analytics and marketing experience as this part of our portfolio keeps expanding.
“Vanessa has led many key customer improvements over her 23 years at Qantas, including the introduction of Neil Perry and Rockpool into our in-flight dining and the complete re-design of our domestic check-in experience.
“Combined with her understanding of our network and fleet, Vanessa will lead the many initiatives happening across the group to keep improving the experience for our customers.”
Qantas’ chief customer officer portfolio will retain responsibility for group marketing, while the corporate affairs function will move under the group executive of people and culture with a dotted line to Joyce.
