Qantas makes CIO redundant

Qantas has made its chief information officer Jamila Gordon redundant, with responsibility for its technology operations to fall to an executive brought in by new CEO Alan Joyce.

"As a result of management changes, the chief information officer will be leaving Qantas," a spokesperson for Australia's largest airline confirmed this morning, referring to an extensive restructure announced last week by Joyce, who took up the CEO role in mid-2008 after leading Qantas subsidiary Jetstar.

Qantas executive manager of corporate services and technology David Hall, who had come across from Jetstar with Joyce, would now be responsible for the airline's IT division, they added.

Gordon only joined Qantas in September 2007, after roles at GIO, Deloitte, Touche and IBM, where she had overseen the IT transformation and service delivery across 11 countries for a major European bank.

However, Gordon's role, which saw her reporting to then-chief financial officer Peter Gregg, was seen as less senior in the airline than that of her predecessor, Fiona Balfour, who had reported to the CEO during her tenure.

Throughout Gordon's time at the airline, in general it was the CFO who outlined most of the group's technology strategy and recent moves to the press, especially in relation to major initiatives such as outsourcing moves and Qantas' large eQ business systems revamp. Gregg himself resigned after Joyce was appointed.