Mark Beyer and Jack McGinn discuss corporate governance at Fortescue and Qantas; Woodside's ammonia buy; all the news out of Diggers & Dealers; Iplex's class action; and a big week for global markets.
A combination of headwinds and tensions in the Middle East have led Qantas to temporarily scrap its direct Perth-to-London flight in favour of a service stopping in Singapore.
Qantas plans to claw back big incentive payments to former chief executive Alan Joyce after a governance review concluded there had been “too much deference to a long-tenured CEO”.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder says customers have lost trust in the airline and flagged action on executive salaries, which could cost Alan Joyce millions.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce will leave his job immediately - two months earlier than expected - to allow the airline to "accelerate its renewal".
Vanessa Hudson has the right stuff in spades to captain Qantas through the next phase of its extraordinary flight path that has already spanned 103 years.
ANALYSIS: Richard Goyder is renowned as one of Australia's top company chairs but he seems to have surprisingly modest expectations for his chief executives, especially Gillon McLachlan.
Deputy Premier Roger Cook has expressed frustration at the delay in getting Qantas to move to the eastern side of the airport, warning that it is holding WA back.
Qantas has reported a first-half underlying pre-tax profit of $1.43 billion - turning around last year's loss - as strong demand helped offset high fuel costs.
Qantas will spend $100 million to upgrade its lounges at airports worldwide, including doubling the seats of one of its regional Western Australian facilities.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti has taken a swipe at Qantas while promoting the $1.9 billion Forrestfield-Airport Link, claiming ongoing flight disruptions could harm the state's tourism push.
Wesfarmers boss Rob Scott and FMG founder Andrew Forrest are likely to be the only Perth-based business leaders at next week's jobs summit in Canberra, with Meg O'Neill a conspicuous absentee.
Qantas will resume its Perth-London direct flight earlier than planned as the national carrier also announces new non-stop routes to tourism destinations from Australia.
Qantas Airways boss Alan Joyce had a pay rise to almost $2 million in the past financial year, while thousands of staff were cut due to the effect of COVID-19.
Australia's major airlines have taken precarious steps towards ramping up operations, with Virgin targeting a return to 80 per cent of its pre-pandemic domestic capacity by June.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce expects international travel to pick up mid-next year after a coronavirus vaccine has been distributed to a significant number of people.
Qantas has suffered a $100 million hit to its first quarter earnings after several states closed their borders in July in response to Victoria's coronavirus outbreak.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison insists thousands more stranded Australians will re-enter the country each week, pressuring the states to boost capacities in hotel quarantine.
Australia's top competition body will closely scrutinise the domestic flight market as restrictions have led the nation's major airlines to consider strategic overhauls.
Qantas is considering moving and downsizing its offices and aviation facilities within Australia as part of continued efforts to cut costs amid the pandemic.
