KEY MOMENTS IN ALAN JOYCE'S CAREER AS QANTAS CEO

* 1996 - Mr Joyce resigns from Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus to work at the now-defunct Ansett Australia.

* 2000 - He joins Qantas as an executive heading the network planning and strategy, and schedules planning teams.

* 2003 - He is appointed chief executive of budget carrier Jetstar Airways, a Qantas subsidiary.

* 2008 - Mr Joyce becomes chief executive of Qantas.

* 2011 - He grounds Qantas' entire international and domestic fleet indefinitely following industrial action, saying Qantas had no choice but to shut down its business incrementally if the dispute continued. QantasLink and Jetstar were not affected.

* 2017 - The openly gay Mr Joyce makes a personal donation of $1 million to the 'yes' same-sex marriage campaign in Australia.

* 2017 - An assailant, Tony Overheu, pushes a lemon meringue pie into Mr Joyce's face at a Perth business breakfast event. Overheu, a Christian, said his actions reflected community push back against Mr Joyce's gay marriage advocacy. Overheu was fined $3,600.

* 2019 - Mr Joyce extends his tenure as chief executive until 2022 at the request of the board and new chairman Richard Goyder.

* 2021 - He gains a pay rise of nearly $2 million despite thousands of staff being cut due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His earnings were about 80 per cent less than his pre-pandemic annual earnings of about $10 million, according to Qantas's annual report. The company in August posted a full-year net loss of $1.73 billion for 2021.

* 2022 - The Transport Workers Union calls for Mr Joyce to resign after 14 years in the job. Mr Goyder rules out a change in leadership before the end of 2023 at the Qantas annual general meeting.

* 2023 - Mr Joyce steps down as chief executive after 15 years. Chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson is announced as the airline's new head after he retires at the November meeting. Ms Hudson has served as chief financial officer since 2019 and has filled a series of executive roles during her almost-30-years career at Qantas.