The Chairman's Lounge

The inside story of how Qantas sold us out

Author: Joe Aston

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Shortlisted for the 2025 ABIA Awards, General Nonfiction Book of the Year and The Matt Richell Award for New Writer of the Year

From the must-read journalist on how power, money and influence work in this country, the full story of how one of the nation’s favourite brands brought itself to ground.

Before Covid, both Qantas and its CEO Alan Joyce were flying high, the darlings of customers, staff and investors. After Covid hit, only money mattered – in particular, the company’s share price and extraordinary executive bonuses. Illegally redundant workers, unethical flight credits, abysmal customer service, antique aircraft: these became Qantas’ new brand.

How did things go so badly wrong? Why were customers at the end of the queue? And how did an increasingly autocratic Joyce constantly get his own way, with the Qantas board and with both Liberal and Labor governments, which handed over billions in subsidies and protected lucrative flight routes from foreign competition? For the first time, The Chairman’s Lounge tells the full story of how one company banked the nation’s loyalty and then cashed in on it.

In his celebrated column Rear Window for the Australian Financial Review, Joe Aston’s reporting of the ethical failings of Qantas spurred the early retirement of its CEO and the resignation of its chairman. With fresh interviews and revelations, written in Aston’s trademark swashbuckling style, The Chairman’s Lounge is the definitive account of how Qantas was brought to ground and who did it. It is a parable of our times.

‘A masterclass in investigative journalism … A scathing, unflinching takedown of greed, delusion and a shameless abuse of power, both jaw-dropping and brilliantly incisive’
Adele Ferguson

Critic Reviews

'Riveting' -- Leigh Sales
‘A masterclass in investigative journalism and a gripping, must read. Aston's blistering exposé of Qantas is a scathing, unflinching takedown of greed, delusion and a shameless abuse of power, both jaw-dropping and brilliantly incisive.’ -- Adele Ferguson
‘A cracking read … Joe Aston is a once-in-a-generation adornment to business journalism with fearless resolve, razor sharp intellect and remarkable writing skills.’ -- Hedley Thomas
‘Helmets are required for this book, the zingers never stop.’ -- Kate McClymont

About the Author

Joe Aston is one of Australia’s most influential commentators on business, finance and politics. For 12 years he struck fear into the hearts of the nation’s political and corporate leaders with his must-read column Rear Window in the Australian Financial Review. He interrogated some of the country’s biggest business stories including Rio Tinto’s Juukan Gorge scandal; CPA Australia and its Naked CEO Alex Malley; and the decline and fall of both Magellan Financial Group and Qantas. In 2023, Joe and his AFR colleagues won a Walkley Award for their coverage of the PwC tax leaks scandal. AFR editor-in-chief Michael Stutchbury says Aston ‘turned a gossip column into a form of journalism like never before seen in Australia, and arguably the world.’ Joe resigned from the AFR in October last year. He lives in Sydney.