The Qantas reputation crisis and response of 2023-2024, with the early departure of CEO Alan Joyce, represents a failure of organisational leadership and sensemaking. Triggered by mass flight cancellations, a refusal to repay COVID era flight credits, and oversized executive bonuses (Hewett, 2023). The crisis eroded public trust in a company that is a symbolic place in the Australian psyche (Massey, 1994). A national flag carrier, deeply embedded in Australia’s identity, history, and sense of self, making its actions resonate far beyond corporate metrics, damaging a shared sense of identity (Benson & Jackson, 2013). The crisis demonstrates how leadership is embodied through material practices (Ropo et al., 2013). For example, the sight of stranded passengers, the material reality of unrefunded credits made the leadership’s failure tangible. The place of the airport, usually a site of adventure and reunion, became a site of frustration and powerlessness, directly shaped by Qantas leadership decisions.
Classic Western Crisis Response
Qantas’s response, exemplifies a classic Western crisis management paradigm focused on legal, financial, and individual accountability. The initial leadership approach under Alan Joyce, focused on maximising shareholder returns and corporate survival during the pandemic. Even at the cost of customer goodwill and employee relations (Hewett, 2023). This reflects a Western leadership model where market performance is the paramount measure of success (Javidan et al., 2006).
The leadership’s sensemaking process (Weick et al., 2005) appeared to frame the crisis primarily through legal and financial lenses. A delay in refunding customer credits was justified by balance sheet pressures, and the response to public outrage was often defensive. This narrow framing failed to comprehend the deeper, identity based betrayal felt by the public. While the Western model isolated blame on the CEO, an Ubuntu approach would emphasise collective responsibility for the breakdown of interconnectedness (Eyong, 2017).
Qantas’s apologies, often perceived as legalistic and compelled by pressure. Whereas Ubuntu prioritises restorative justice, which seeks to heal the harmed community (Eyong, 2017). This would involve not only swift and full financial reimbursement but also symbolic acts of contrition and community rebuilding. Perhaps through deeply discounted flights for affected customers or substantial investments in national tourism recovery programs, framed as a restorative act. An effective leadership approach would have recognised that leading Qantas is an act of curatorship of a national place. Demanding a responsibility that far exceeds quarterly profit statements (Evans & Sinclair, 2016).
Recommendations
Qantas must therefore, move beyond individual accountability to collective, public stewardship. The board should establish a permanent, independent Community and Customer Council with real authority to scrutinise major decisions. Ensuring the airline’s actions are consistently aligned with its social license to operate. This embodies the Ubuntu principle of leadership being exercised with and for the community (Eyong, 2017).
Restoring Community Well Being
In a crisis, the primary goal should be the restoration of the community’s well being, which may include the acknowledgment of the harm caused. Rather than viewing repayments and compensations as liabilities, frame and execute them as a formal, public facing restorative justice program. This might involve the entire executive team and board engaging in public accountability and restitution, forgoing short term financial or legal advantages and acknowledging their shared role in the cultural decay, thereby demonstrating a commitment to the principles of interconnectedness and mutual care central to philosophies of Ubuntu (Eyong, 2017).
Regular Sensemaking Exercises
The executive team must regularly and formally engage in sensemaking exercises that explicitly consider Qantas’s role as a national place. This involves understanding their service through deep listening and observation of their customers’ lived experience, and systematically integrating this place based intelligence into all strategic planning and crisis preparedness protocols.
Conclusion
The Qantas crisis illustrates the limitations of a narrow, Western corporate leadership paradigm when confronted with a failure that is fundamentally relational and symbolic. The responses of CEO resignation and public apology, were insufficient to address the breach of a collective trust rooted deeply in a sense of place. By critically appraising this response through the lens of Ubuntu and place based sensemaking, a more profound path to recovery emerges, one that prioritises restorative justice, collective responsibility, and a humble re-engagement with the airline’s unique role in the Australian national story.
References – Crisis Response
• Benson, M., & Jackson, E. (2013). Place-making and place maintenance: Performativity, place and belonging among the middle classes. Sociology, 47(4), 793–809. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512454350
• Evans, M., & Sinclair, A. (2016). Containing, contesting, creating spaces: Leadership and cultural identity work among Australian Indigenous arts leaders. Leadership, 12(3), 270–293. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715015620463
• Eyong, J. E. (2017). Indigenous African leadership: Key differences from Anglo-centric thinking and writings. Leadership, 13(6), 729–750. https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715016663050
• Hewett, J. (2023, October 30). Qantas’ explanations come too late for angry passengers and investors. Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/qantas-explanations-come-too-late-for-angry-passengers-and-investors-20231030-p5eg4a
• Javidan, M., Dorfman, P. W., Sully de Luque, M., & House, R. J. (2006). In the eye of the beholder: Cross-cultural lessons in leadership from Project GLOBE. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 67–90. https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2006.19873410
• Massey, D. (1994). Space, place, and gender. University of Minnesota Press
• Ropo, A., Sauer, E., & Salovaara, P. (2013). Embodiment of leadership through material place. Leadership, 9(3), 349–372. http://doi.org/10.1177/1742715013485858
• Weick, K. E., Sutcliffe, K. M., & Obstfeld, D. (2005). Organizing and the process of sensemaking. Organization Science, 16(4), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1050.0133
This was written in October 2025 as a response to Qantas' reputational crisis as discussed in the article Qantas’ explanations come too late for angry passengers and investors.
A Critique of Qantas's Crisis Response through Ubuntu Leadership Lenses:
Hewett, J. (2023). Qantas’ explanations come too late for angry passengers and investors. Australian Financial Review.More Leadership Posts
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