He began as chairman of Qantas in July after being appointed to replace Richard Goyder, who was heavily criticised towards the end of his seven-year tenure at Qantas for having too many other commitments.

Mullen is not expected to step away from chairing either Qantas or Treasury Wine, given how recently he commenced in those roles. He has been chair of ASX-listed pallet company Brambles since July 2020.

Shareholder advisory firm Ownership Matters founder Dean Paatsch said Mullen was a quality director and investors were taking him on his word that he would be lightening his workload.

“Even the most talented director will be challenged when any one of multiple companies hits rough water. But it’s almost impossible on a multiple chairman workload in large companies if multiple companies hit a crisis at the same time,” Paatsch told this masthead.

“It’s quite clear the Qantas opportunity came up out of cycle for him. He’s given us no reason to doubt he’s anything but a man of his word, and investors will be holding him to that,” he added. “If we get to 12 months down the track and he hasn’t done that, I’ll be very surprised.”

Australian Shareholders Association chief executive Rachel Waterhouse also described Mullen as a very capable director but believes a director can only effectively manage two chair roles at most at any given time.

“Someone should at the maximum have five director roles. But when they’re a chair, that equals two,” she said.

“Capable directors that have got a good history are wanted everywhere.”

Brambles will hold its annual general meeting next week on Thursday, October 24. The company has been contacted for comment. Last Friday, the pallet supplier appointed two new non-executive directors, Cameron McIntyre and Tony Palmer, to the business.