Alan Joyce, the combative chief executive of Australian flag carrier Qantas Airways, is flying high these days. Along the way he plans to reward shareholders with their first dividend in seven years and has generated enough cash to pay bonuses to 25,000 staff. The positive results suggest that Mr Joyce strategy of cutting costs and calling off a price war with rival Virgin Australia has finally paid off, although the big fall in fuel prices also aided Qantas™s cause. Now Mr Joyce has another fight on his hands. At a time when socially conservative politicians are ascendant in Australia, Mr Joyce a prominent gay executive and a strong proponent of diversity has put his weight, and that of Qantas, behind the campaign for same-sex marriage.
