Report by David Castle
Book Club Flies High
The Chairman’s Lounge by Joe Aston was arguably the best book we have read this year and scored an unprecedented average of 8.5 of 10. Launched at Christmas 2024, it achieved extraordinary publicity for its revelations about the actual lounge and its alleged influence on so many politicians and business leaders. However the book raises many other issues including the reign of Alan Joyce, industrial relations, competition between airlines and, under Joyce, the Qantas profit first focus.
Aston, as a leading investigative journalist – famous for his Rear Window column in the Financial Review – writes with fearlessness and clarity about Qantas in the time of Alan Joyce as CEO. This was the time of covid, the Qatar airlines controversy, the sacking of 1800 ground staff and many more incidents and issues that were famous at the time – and are still current.
As usual, our discussions were wide-ranging and enjoyable.
Our traditional 3-word summaries included: – “Qantas ethics crashes, Aston buries Joyce and Joyce grounds Qantas”.
The book is highly recommended as contemporary investigative journalism at its best.