The governing board of the oneworld global airline alliance has nominated Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce to serve as its chairman for the next two years.

He succeeds Finnair chief executive Pekka Vauramo, who is leaving the airline to join Finland’s Metso Corporation as its new chief.

Vauramo assumed oneworld’s chairmanship in June last year.

As oneworld chairman, Alan Joyce will chair its board meetings, oversee alliance governance and work closely with oneworld chief executive Rob Gurney and the central alliance team.

Prior to Pekka Vauramo, the position has been filled by chief executives from American Airlines (Gerard Arpey and Tom Horton), British Airways/IAG (Willie Walsh) and Cathay Pacific (Ivan Chu).

The oneworld governing board comprises the chief executives of all the alliance’s member airlines – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines and SriLankan Airlines, alongside Qantas.  As part of oneworld, these airlines:

Joyce said: “As a founding member of oneworld, we are pleased the alliance has evolved over time to deliver greater value to more customers worldwide and expand its joint network. 

“I look forward to serving as chairman of the governing board and working with our oneworld partner airlines as the alliance reaches the 20th anniversary of its launch.

“On behalf of all of us at oneworld, I thank Pekka Vauramo for his leadership of the alliance and wish him all the best in his new endeavours.”

Joyce has been Qantas Group CEO since 2008.

He has overseen one of the biggest transformations in the carrier’s 98-year history, helping it to deliver record profit together with high levels of customer satisfaction and employee engagement. 

The transformation included the turnaround and renewed growth of Qantas International, the expansion of Qantas and its low-cost carrier Jetstar throughout Asia, the renewal of the group’s fleet, lounges, technology and training, and the diversification of the Qantas Loyalty business with new ventures.