It comes as the airline has faced a wave of scrutiny in recent weeks over allegations that the airline had sold tickets for “ghost flights”.

Vanessa Hudson will move into the role as managing director and group chief executive from September 6.

In a statement the airline said: “Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce has advised the Board he will bring forward his retirement by two months to help the company accelerate its renewal.”

Mr Joyce said the events of the last past weeks had made it clear the company needs to prioritise and “move ahead with its renewal”.

“The best thing I can do under these circumstances is to bring forward my retirement and hand over to Vanessa and the new management team now, knowing they will do an excellent job,” he said.

It marks an abrupt end to Mr Joyce’s 15 years in the top job and 22 years with the company.

“There is a lot I am proud of over my 22 years at Qantas, “ he said.

“There have been many ups and downs, and there is clearly much work still to be done, especially to make sure we always deliver for our customers. But I leave knowing that the company is fundamentally strong and has a bright future.”

Qantas Chairman Richard Goyder commended the outgoing chief executive on putting “the best interests of Qantas front and centre”.

“We sincerely thank him for his leadership through some enormous challenges and for thinking well-ahead on opportunities like ultra long-haul travel,” he said.

Mr Goyder admitted it comes at “challenging time” for the airline as the company works to restore the public confidence.

“We have an important job to do in restoring the public’s confidence in the kind of company we are, and that’s what the Board is focused on, and what the management under Vanessa’s leadership will do,” he said.

The fast-tracked succession plan also brings forward the appointment of Rob Marcolina to fill the vacant role of chief financial officer as Ms Hudson steps up into the top job.

Shareholders will formally vote on the appointment of Vanessa Hudson as Managing Director at Qantas’ Annual General Meeting in November.

Nightmare week for Qantas

In a statement released just 24 hours ago, Qantas acknowledged that their service standards had fallen “well short” of expectations in recent times.

“We openly acknowledge that our service standards fell well short and we sincerely apologise,” a spokesman said.

“We have worked hard to fix them since and that work continues.”

The statement was a direct response to multiple allegations made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission including that the airline had sold tickets for more than 8000 already-cancelled flights between May and July last year.

“The ACCC’s allegations come at a time when Qantas’s reputation has already been hit hard on several fronts,” the spokesman said.

“We want the community to know that we hear and understand their disappointment.

“We know it will take time to repair. And we are absolutely determined to do that.”

The consumer watchdog launched a lawsuit with the Federal Court last Thursday, with the airline facing a potential penalty of more than $250m.

They allege the airline continued to sell tickets up to 48 days after flights had been cancelled.

Customers with tickets on more than 10,000 flights scheduled to depart over a three month period were not notified there flights had been cancelled for an average of 18 days, the watchdog alleges.

“The ACCC alleges that for about 70 per cent of cancelled flights, Qantas either continued to sell tickets for the flight on its website for two days or more or delayed informing existing ticketholders that their flight was cancelled for two days or more or both,” a spokesperson said last week.

Mr Joyce announced his retirement back in May and was due to see out his role until November.