More than 110 members and guests attended the annual Moriah Foundation Members Cocktail Party at the home of Steven and Judy Lowy this week with special guest speaker, Qantas Managing Director and Group CEO Alan Joyce.

Ryan Kassel, Alan Joyce, Judy Lowy and Stehen Jankelowitz

This year, The Moriah Foundation celebrates its ten-year anniversary. Foundation President, Judy Lowy, thanked Foundation members for their support over the last decade. “Since our inception, and with your help, the Foundation has raised over $30M. We have supported and will continue to support hundreds of children to come to Moriah. We have brought a range of innovative programs to all our children, invested in our educators, improved our children’s learning environments and begun building an endowment fund. We have also been paying off the debt from the purchase of our land.”

In introducing Alan Joyce, Judy said “One of the reasons Alan has been so successful is that he exhibits many of the crucial ingredients of great leadership. He has vision, he brings people with him, he has empathy, authenticity and a great awareness of his social responsibility and impact.”

During his address, Alan shared insights into how he navigated this unprecedented period and how Qantas is adapting to the new norm.

As travel begins to resume, Alan is optimistic about the future of Australia’s flagship carrier, anticipating that Qantas will reach 120% of pre-COVID domestic levels in the coming months. Qantas will be opening up new non-stop long-haul routes, starting with Perth-Rome direct, and is well-positioned to take advantage of the expected leisure travel boom over the next two years.

Looking towards the future with confidence, Alan shared his plans for significant spending on new aircraft, new cabin configurations and new international routes, which will be a plus for Australian travellers.

Despite all the challenges of COVID, Qantas Group expects to increase its market share to about 70%, with any decrease in the short-term in business travel expected to be filled by the huge increase in leisure travel. Qantas will continue to take calculated, commercial and entrepreneurial risks, to engage customers, and trial new ventures.

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College President Stephen Jankelowitz thanked Alan for his outstanding address saying “Thank you for sharing your insights about your future plans for Australia’s flagship carrier. We all look forward to resuming travel once again, and with you at the helm, we do so with confidence.”

Stephen extended his appreciation to Moriah Foundation members and corporate sponsors for their support of Moriah during the COVID pandemic. “It is thanks to you that we have been able to ensure that no family who qualified for fee assistance had to face the heartache of having to take their child out of Moriah and that we were able to meet our debt repayments to the bank.”

Sharing some of the College’s priorities for 2022 and beyond, Stephen concluded:  “Our educators and wellbeing staff are focused on generating student engagement, achievement and growth, and empowering every child to achieve personal excellence.”