Former marketing leader and customer chief to replace Gareth Evans at the end of 2022
Qantas chief customer officer and former marketing chief, Stephanie Tully, will become the new CEO of Jetstar following the departure of Gareth Evans at the end of 2022.
Tully joined the Qantas Group in 2004 in customer service and has worked her way up through operational, commercial, marketing and customer loyalty positions to become executive manager of group brand and marketing in 2015.
Tully was recognised for her effective and innovative marketing leadership in the 2017 edition of the CMO50 list and secured third position that year. She was promoted to group executive and chief customer officer in August 2019, taking over the role from Vanessa Hudson after she was promoted to CFO.
Qantas confirmed its executive manager of network, revenue management and alliances, Markus Svensson, will take over the chief customer officer reins following Tully’s promotion, reporting to group CEO and joining the group executive committee. Svensson has been overseeing a large part of commercial strategy across Qantas International and Domestic in his current position and boasts of an 11-year tenure with the airline including regional general management.
Tully is replacing Jetstar CEO, Gareth Evans, who exits the role at the end of this year. His departure was first announced in June.
In a statement, Qantas said Tully and Svensson will begin transitioning into their new roles shortly supported by detailed handovers given the internal succession plan. The formal handover will occur in November.
The executive changes come at what is tumultuous time for the Qantas Group, which continues to struggle to rebuild consumer and employee trust and suffer disruptions as it works to get services back on track following the disruptions of the last two-and-a-half years.
“These appointments come at an important time for us. The team is working incredibly hard to overcome challenges facing the whole industry as it gets back on its feet, and the data shows we’re almost there,” Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce stated. “Managing this kind of executive renewal internally means we keep our momentum and can leverage a huge amount of corporate knowledge, including through the transition.”
Joyce noted Tully’s extensive experience across different parts of the airline, from crewing to marketing, and her a deep understanding of customer experience, as key assets.
“Stephanie is an outstanding leader and she’ll be leading a very experienced senior team at Jetstar to keep building on the strengths of that business,” he said.
Svensson, meanwhile, brings firsthand experience of navigating the complexities of air travel over recent years and during the Covid-19 pandemic, Joyce continued.
“Markus has been managing most of the commercial elements of the Qantas network through several waves of lockdown and recovery, and also managing our relationships with alliance partners around the world,” he said. “His knowledge of airlines means he understands the many elements that have to work to deliver exceptional customer service, which is a key focus for us.”
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