Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, will step away from his position earlier than expected after mounting pressures on the airline.

After 22 years with the company, 15 of which as the CEO, today is Joyce’s final day on the job.

In a statement, Joyce recognised the airline has been subject to a wave of bad publicity recently. This includes allegedly selling tickets to ghost flights, having expensive airfares, and high cancellation rates.

“In the last few weeks, the focus on Qantas and events of the past make it clear to me that the company needs to move ahead with its renewal as a priority,” Joyce said.

His early departure comes after an investigation into the airline, alleging that Qantas sold tickets for over 8000 cancelled flights scheduled to leave between May and July last year.

Vanessa Hudson will now assume the role of managing director and CEO from tomorrow.

Joyce said that now is the best time to step aside and allow Qantas to move forward as a company.

“The best thing I can do under the circumstances is to bring my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now,” he said.

Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder spoke highly of Joyce and thanked him for his service to the airline.

“On behalf of the Board, we sincerely thank him for his leadership through some enormous challenges and for thinking well-ahead on opportunities like ultra-long-haul travel.”

Photo: Alan Joyce at Boeing by Jetstar Airways is available HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.