CEO and top managers suffered the brunt of the cyber attack, Qantas Airways cut their salary

Qantas Airways Limited has taken a tough step and cut the salary of its CEO Vanessa Hudson as well as top level management by about 800,000 Australian dollars. This decision has been taken after the confirmation of the cyber breach, which has affected millions of customers. Qantas said in its annual report released on Friday that Hudson lost compensation of 250,000 Australian dollars, while the airline’s five executive managers have lost a total of 550,000 Australian dollars. However, during the last one year (till June 2025), Hudson’s total compensation increased to 6.31 million Australian dollars, from 4.38 million Australian dollars a year ago.

What is the matter?

Qantas came to know about the cyber attack on the last day of the business year (June 30). According to the report, personal information of 57 lakh customers was stolen in this attack. During the hearing of this case, a Federal Court judge of Australia had strongly criticized the working style of the company, after which perhaps the board of the company was forced to take an immediate decision.

Qantas Chairman John Mullen said in the annual report, “This decision reflects our commitment to creating a culture of accountability and ownership.” Mullen admitted that the managers took immediate action to stop the breach and help the customers, but said that the salary cut reflects the seriousness of the incident.

Qantas’ profit has increased by 15 percent to 2.4 billion Australian dollars in the business year ending in June.