CEO’s plan to change entire Aussie industry

Jetstar boss Stephanie Tully stepped into the corporate aviation world straight out of university more than 27 years ago.

While Australia’s three major airlines are now all led by women after new appointments in the last four years, things looked a lot different back then, the airline chief told news.com.au in an exclusive interview.

“When I started at Ansett I was the one female in a program of 10, so there was nine men and me on the graduate program,” Ms Tully said.

“We’ve got now more women than men on our graduate program in Jetstar.”

Even still she says “women are the most untapped resource for aviation” and this is because pilot and engineering jobs have not traditionally attracted women – something she is passionate about changing.

Before sitting down with news.com.au in the Jetstar Operations Control Centre in Melbourne, Ms Tully had been addressing female engineers at a networking event, where they were asked for their feedback and ideas on drawing more women to the job.

While there has been significant progress over time, Ms Tully said “it’s going to take years to really change” and become more equal.

Her plan to create change involves ensuring leaders in relevant areas are also passionate about changing the gender mix, and tapping into the next generation through schools and universities, and showcasing the incredible women already in these roles.

“Showing that this is a real career option because often, when I was at school, you didn’t really see it as an option,” she said.

“It wasn’t something that was shared so we’ve got to change the way and showcase what we’re doing so females can see that it is.”

She believes women attract more women, and has felt a “huge responsibility” throughout her career to inspire the next generation to “be brave” in the industry.

“You cast a leadership shadow whenever you’re in any level of leadership role,” she said.

Ms Tully has held a range of leadership roles across customer experience, loyalty and marketing since joining the Qantas Group in 2004 and was most recently chief customer officer before stepping up to lead Jetstar.

Ms Tully proudly tells news.com.au one of her two daughters, 12 and 15, wants to be a pilot.

She is motivated by doing them both proud.

“There’s definitely times where I’ve felt completely in the minority walking into meeting rooms where you’re the only female,” she said.

“So I think females have to be brave and realise they bring a different and really appreciated perspective to any conversation and have a lot to offer.”

She said leaders like herself and Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson, who she says has been a “massive mentor”, love the industry but also love trying to change it.

“There’s definitely been challenges throughout my career but I’ve always just gone ‘be brave and take opportunities’ … across different parts of the airline to keep interested and keep moving in your career.”

Ms Tully lives in Sydney with her family, where Qantas is based, but spends three days in Jetstar’s head office in Melbourne “on a normal week”.

Jetstar also has airlines based in Singapore (Jetstar Asia) and Japan (Jetstar Japan), and a New Zealand operation that Ms Tully visits.

You won’t always find her in the cabin as she likes to sit in the cockpit and chat with the pilots.

Virgin Australia chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka, Ms Tully and Ms Hudson were all appointed the top job during particularly difficult times for their carriers in 2020, 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Jetstar reported its best ever financial results for 2023-24 – generating $497 million in earnings, up 23 per cent from $404 million.

“We had our best ever financial result but also our best ever customer result and our best ever people engagement result, so we hit good results across the board,” Ms Tully said.

When it comes to improving the airline’s reputation, she said it can be a long process as people who travel on low-cost leisure airlines tend to fly less often.

“There may have been times Jetstar has let people down and we’re always sorry for that and we have got better, so I think it’s going to take time to change the perception of those who haven’t flown us more recently,” she said.