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Vanessa Hudson (executive)

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Not to be confused with Vanessa Hudgens.

Vanessa Hudson
FCA
Born
Vanessa Hudson

1969 or 1970 (age 54–55)[1]
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia[1]
EducationPymble Ladies' College
Alma materUniversity of Technology Sydney (UTS)
OccupationBusiness executive
Known forFirst female CEO of Qantas
Children2

Vanessa Hudson (born 1969 or 1970)[1] is an Australian business executive and CEO of Qantas since September 2023, after succeeding Alan Joyce following his abrupt resignation.[2]

Early life and education

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Hudson grew up in Northern Sydney. She attended and matriculated at Pymble Ladies' College in 1986. She later graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 1991 with a Bachelor of Business (BBus).[2] In 1994, she was admitted as a Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia and later becoming a fellow of the institute (FCA).[3]

Career

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Hudson began her career in external audits at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu for two years, before joining Qantas in 1994 as an internal audit supervisor.[1] Then she became finance controller in the commercial division of Qantas.[2]

In 1997, she was appointed as the catering product manager before being elevated to the role of executive manager of product and services in 2005.[2] As Qantas's executive manager of commercial planning, Hudson was called as a witness at an emergency Fair Work Australia hearing into the 2011 Qantas industrial disputes which affected thousands of airline passengers.[4]

Hudson relocated to Los Angeles in 2013 upon her appointment as the senior vice-president of the American arm of Qantas.[2] She returned to Australia in 2016 after becoming the company's executive manager of sales and distribution.[2] In 2018, Hudson was one of the judges to help name the Australian Financial Review "100 Women of Influence".[5]

In February 2018, she was appointed as chief customer officer before becoming the chief financial officer of the Qantas Group.[2] As chief financial officer, Hudson was required to navigate a number of challenges that Qantas faced, including Perth Airport's legal action against the airline in 2018 which was ultimately resolved in the Supreme Court of Western Australia.[6] Further challenges Hudson encountered included the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine which affected global oil prices prompting the airline to implement a hedging strategy.[7][8] In May 2023, it was announced that Hudson would succeed Alan Joyce as the chief executive officer of Qantas, becoming the first woman to lead the company.[9][10]

Her official appointment as Qantas CEO was initially set to occur at the conclusion of Joyce's 15-year tenure at the annual general meeting in November 2023,[11] although her appointment was expedited following Joyce's early departure in September. On 5 September 2023, it was announced Joyce would quit early following revelations the company may have continued to sell tickets for flights that had already been cancelled, with Hudson taking over the following day.[12]

She was named in the Fortune's list of Most Powerful Women in 2023.[13]

Personal life

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Hudson is married with two adult daughters.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Whyte, Jemima; Baird, Lucas (2 May 2023). "New Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson: 'I plan to be myself'". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. The 53 year-old Sydney-born executive...
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Hawke, Jack; Williams, Claudia (2 May 2023). "Qantas has announced a new CEO to take over from Alan Joyce. Who is Vanessa Hudson?". ABC News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. ^ Khalil, Shireen (2 May 2023). "Qantas announces new CEO Vanessa Hudson". news.com.au. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  4. ^ "No end in sight despite urgent hearing". The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 October 2011. The second witness, Qantas's executive manager of commercial planning, Vanessa Hudson, said the airline had taken "numerous decisions to cancel flights and also re-time flights" because of industrial action.
  5. ^ Tattersall, Hannah (3 September 2018). "The Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence 2018 revealed". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. The other judges were... Vanessa Hudson, chief customer officer of Qantas...
  6. ^ Wiggins, Jenny (18 February 2022). "Perth Airport fee battle with Qantas finally resolved in court". Australian Financial Review. Qantas Group chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson said the WACC rate determined was "far too high for a low-risk monopoly infrastructure asset...
  7. ^ Baird, Lucas (19 March 2020). "Qantas, Virgin Australia running out of options". Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 5 May 2023. Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson was hopeful to announce the financing sometime over the next week, and Mr Joyce said lenders know Qantas is not at risk of collapsing.
  8. ^ Whitley, Angus (8 March 2022). "Qantas Flags Higher Fares as Ukraine War Sends Oil Soaring". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 May 2023. ...Qantas Chief Financial Officer Vanessa Hudson said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday
  9. ^ Housden, Tom (3 May 2023). "Vanessa Hudson: Qantas appoints first female CEO as Alan Joyce steps down". BBC News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Qantas has announced a new CEO to take over from Alan Joyce. Who is Vanessa Hudson?". ABC News. 2 May 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  11. ^ Visontay, Elias; Barrett, Jonathan (2 May 2023). "Vanessa Hudson to replace Alan Joyce as Qantas CEO". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  12. ^ Cherney, Mike. "Qantas CEO Quits After Airline Allegedly Sold Tickets for Canceled Flights". WSJ. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Vanessa Hudson | 2023 Most Powerful Women". Fortune.
Business positions
Preceded by CEO of Qantas
2023–present 		Incumbent
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