Qantas loyalty chief announces she's stepping down

Olivia Wirth will leave Qantas in February after 14 years with the airline. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

The head of Qantas' loyalty division has resigned from the airline to pursue other opportunities.

Olivia Wirth has been at Qantas for 14 years and spent the past five in the loyalty chief executive role, overseeing the airline's Frequent Flyer program.

She will finish up in February to pursue other roles, Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson confirmed.

"Olivia’s contribution to this company over many years has been enormous," Ms Hudson said in a statement on Monday.

"She drove huge expansion of what the program offers and that shows in the growth in members and their engagement levels."

A process to appoint a new Qantas loyalty chief executive will start soon.

The airline also announced it has appointed Catherine Walsh as its chief people officer. 

The new title was announced in June as part of a management restructure. 

"Building a stronger culture and better relationships with our people is one of my highest priorities and a shared responsibility across management," Ms Hudson said.

"As our chief people officer, Catherine will support those collective efforts by ensuring we always value the incredible contribution our people make to this organisation and listen to their insights."

Catherine Walsh
Catherine Walsh will take up the new role of chief people officer at Qantas.

The changes come after Richard Goyder last week confirmed he would quit as Qantas chairman next year.

The airline has been under fire in recent months, with the High Court ruling it illegally sacked almost 1700 workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and the consumer watchdog launching Federal Court action alleging it sold customers tickets on flights it had already cancelled.

The Senate has also probed what involvement Qantas had in the federal government blocking Qatar Airways’ bid to have more flights into Australia.

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