Qantas has been a mainstay in the headlines for months now, and pressure has been slowly but steadily mounting on the airline's board — and specifically Richard Goyder — to step down after one of the most tumultuous periods in its history.

There's been the flight credits saga, delayed and cancelled flights, customer service complaints, a class action, and an ACCC investigation over allegations it sold tickets for cancelled flights.

But that was only the beginning — on top of Alan Joyce's early exit, the High Court's ruling that Qantas illegally sacked 1,700 ground crew, and the multi-million-dollar payout for Joyce and its executives disclosed in its annual report.

And it was just two weeks ago today that Richard Goyder, along with CEO Vanessa Hudson and Qantas' general counsel Andrew Finch, appeared at a Senate inquiry into the federal government's blocking of additional Qatar Airways flights.

It was in that fiery hearing that Richard Goyder said not once, but twice, that he had the support of Qantas shareholders (despite shareholders withdrawing their support for him a day earlier, and putting the rest of the board on notice).

As the popular saying goes, timing is everything — so why has Richard Goyder made the announcement now, when his exit isn't until sometime next year?

The ABC's senior business correspondent Peter Ryan has unpacked what the timing means, how it will impact next month's annual general meeting in Melbourne, and how Qantas might move forward.

You can watch his full assessment of the situation below: