The board also allowed management to pursue a case to the High Court, even though lower courts had already found Qantas had acted illegally in sacking 1700 ground crew during the pandemic. The High Court upheld the lower court rulings and found against Qantas, and the airline will now pay compensation and legal costs.

Hopefully, all the Qantas directors have since read the High Court ruling.

Earlier this week, Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said accountability was required for the airline’s problems and that he would follow Joyce out the door. He will leave before the end of next year, and a search by Egon Zehnder is under way for his successor, who by law must be Australian.

Goyder also announced board renewal with the departure of directors Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey, while director Michael L’Estrange already intended to retire at the Qantas annual general meeting next month.

Goyder was appointed as Qantas chair in November 2017. After he leaves the airline, he, his wife and any children under 26 are entitled to two long-haul trips and six short-haul trips for each year of service. The long-haul trips and short-haul trips can be used in any class. But who would fly economy if business or first class were on offer?

Why should Qantas directors keep those benefits if the company and the management they have been charged with governing and overseeing has performed poorly?

The rules are similar for the other directors, who along with beneficial family members get one long-haul trip and three short-haul trips for every year of service.

Brenner and Hey joined the board in August 2013, and have served more than 10 years at Qantas. That’s a decade of free flights. L’Estrange joined in April 2016.

The value of those travel perks runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For individuals such as Goyder, who recently paid $10.4 million for a Melbourne home, the free flights are small change, but that misses the point. Why should Qantas directors keep those benefits if the company and the management they have been charged with governing and overseeing has performed poorly on so many levels?

Surely losing those travel perks, along with the board seat, would send a message of accountability. Also, why should Qantas’ shareholders fund free flights for directors and their families up to a decade after they have gone?

For years, Joyce slashed the airline’s headcount with the board’s permission resulting in low morale and poor customer service. Maybe it’s time for cost savings at the board level too, with the next Qantas chair scrapping such perks altogether.

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As for Goyder, his departure should be a case study for other directors, and a reminder for complacent shareholders.

Goyder, it seems, was over-boarded in that he held too many directorships. His workload as chair of Qantas, Woodside and the AFL Commission was ridiculous. He said he could do it all, but it appears he couldn’t, and it has cost him.

However, don’t feel sorry for Goyder. In a few years, he will probably end up chair of Wesfarmers, following a well-trodden path of former chief executives of that conglomerate taking up the chairmanship. If he does, he’ll have some free flights from Qantas to fly between Melbourne and Perth.

Last drinks

Board problems are also rife at drinks and pub group Endeavour Group. What is likely is that, like Qantas, Endeavour’s chief executive or chair, or both, will depart.

Endeavour’s major shareholder, Bruce Mathieson, who owns 15.08 per cent of the company, has been unhappy with how it is being managed, claiming cost and inventory blowouts, and unnecessary acquisitions and expansion. Endeavour’s board and management deny the claims.

However, rule 101 for any company chief executive is don’t lose the confidence of your major shareholder or founder.

Mathieson is not only the largest shareholder, he was also the founder of the pubs arm of Endeavour. Endeavour owns 1701 liquor shops, including chains Dan Murphy’s and BWS, 354 pubs, 12,500 poker machines, and a handful of wineries.

In the past year, Endeavour’s share price has slumped almost 21 per cent, while the ASX 200 index has risen nearly 7 per cent. The company’s market capitalisation has declined in that time by about $2.6 billion.

Steve Donohue has been Endeavour’s chief executive since the company was demerged from Woolworths in mid-2021. He will front shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting at the end of this month, which will be fiery as former Woolworth’s executive Bill Wavish bids to get elected to the board.

Wavish has Mathieson’s support, and also that of Bruce Mathieson jnr, who is an Endeavour director. Wavish’s bid to join the board was opposed by other Endeavour directors, except Colin Storrie. Storrie, a former Woolworths’ executive, abstained from the vote and departs Endeavour at the end of the year.

The Mathieson camp’s actions have been destabilising for Endeavour, and it has become a dirty fight from both sides.

Endeavour management and board say the Mathieson camp’s claims of poor management are incorrect. Meanwhile, information has emerged that billionaire Mathieson has a margin loan exposure against his Endeavour stake. There’s also been speculation over whether Mathieson’s long-term plan is to partner with private equity to split Endeavour and privatise the pubs arm, which he denies.

For Endeavour shareholders, the concern would be if Mathieson gained control of the group without a premium.

For now, Mathieson wants management change. Unfortunately for Donohue, if the major shareholder is coming at you, it’s most likely game over.

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