What a difference a year makes.

Just 12 short months ago, the upper echelons of Qantas walked away from a heated battle with its shareholders in Melbourne after what can only be described as a catastrophic year.

The culmination of negative headlines from lawsuits, millions of dollars worth of flight credits owed to customers, and questions over its influence on the federal government to keep rival airlines at bay saw Alan Joyce head for the exit two months earlier than scheduled — and taking a substantial payout with him.

It was hardly surprising that shareholders were furious when they came face-to-face with those in charge at its annual general meeting in November. They were looking for a fight, and Qantas knew they had to roll with the punches.

Fast-forward a year, and any hopes of a rematch were out of the question within minutes of the meeting beginning in Hobart.

The messaging from the top brass was clear: This is not the same airline that you knew a year ago.

That was enough for most shareholders in the room, and it was a far more friendly affair than some had been expecting.

But while Qantas was busy making up with its shareholders, you didn't have to look too hard to find signs that not everyone was on board.

Reading the room

As Qantas' executives prepared to meet with shareholders in Hobart, some of the airline's engineers were just metres away.

Instead of attending the meeting on level four of the Crowne Plaza, they had organised their own in the form of a protest over an ongoing pay dispute.

Joined by union representatives and a large inflatable rat (not to be mistaken with a kangaroo), workers chanted "no more delays, it's time for fair pay".

Their presence came as hundreds of engineers stopped work for four hours that morning at major airports around the country, with hundreds more following suit in the afternoon.

It was the second strike by Qantas engineers this week, who are calling for the airline to increase their salaries by 25 per cent over the next three years, and have threatened to escalate the industrial action if their demands aren't met.

Inside, their boss Vanessa Hudson was telling shareholders that the airline was investing in its people, pointing to the hiring of thousands of new team members, investing in ground training facilities, and that 6,000 staff would be receiving leadership training.

Better still, she said, the company was committing to giving all of its non-executive employees a $1,000 bonus to thank them for their work over the past year.

There was zero mention of the strikes that were taking place around the country, nor the group of engineers who were downstairs. Instead, she reiterated her commitment to "rebuilding relationships with our employees and their union representatives".

"We have made progress on this front, but we recognise rebuilding trust will take time," she said.

"We will not always agree and will not be able to meet some people's expectations every time, but we are looking for solutions that deliver improvements in pay and conditions for our people."

As unions later pointed out, there was no better time to start than right now — particularly given the backdrop of strikes around the country and an order from the Federal Court that Qantas must financially compensate the 1,700 workers it illegally fired in August 2020.

The ghost of Alan Joyce

It took all of 10 minutes for Alan Joyce to be mentioned at the meeting, with newly installed chair John Mullen thanking the former CEO for his contribution to the airline in his opening remarks.

Mr Joyce may have left the airline over a year ago, but he still casts a shadow over the company that some would rather forget.

But even if the Qantas board wanted to leave Mr Joyce in the past, shareholder Chris Maxworthy wasn't going to give them the option.

"I feel the ghost of Alan Joyce in the room," Mr Maxworthy told them, referring to certain board members who held their positions while he was CEO.

He wanted the board to reassure him that they had atoned for their sins after a series of missteps, before suggesting Mr Joyce deserves "base salary" for his two months as chief executive in the last financial year — and not the $3.4 million he was awarded.

Mr Mullen, himself a seasoned chairman, responded that around $9 million of Mr Joyce's salary and remuneration had been docked by the airline, making it one of the largest, "if not the largest" in Australian corporate history.

It was a clear sign that the Qantas board has been at pains to temper its executive pay and bonuses, after shareholders delivered an 82.98 per cent strike against it at last year's AGM.

If they didn't moderate their remuneration this year, there was every chance a second strike would come knocking — and that would put the board at risk of being spilled.

Cutting their own pay by 33 per cent was about more than atoning for their sins and reading the room. It was also about survival, and a black and white acknowledgement that the board was serious about charting a different path for the airline.

Coupled with a year that's been punctuated with repeated admissions from Qantas that they know they need to restore trust with Australians, and signs that they're making progress, it was a strategy shareholders couldn't argue with, even if they wanted to.

It was little wonder that the remuneration report was overwhelmingly given the green light by shareholders, with more than 85 per cent voting in favour of it.