Qantas group general counsel Brett Johnson is to step down on October 31. Johnson has been the airline’s general counsel for the past 17 years and has announced that he plans to retire. He will be replaced by Allens partner Andrew Finch on 1 November. Finch has been a partner at Allens for the past 10 years and specialises in corporate law.

"Brett has had a major impact on the success of Qantas and his sound advice to the board and [myself] has been invaluable over many years," Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said. "We wish Brett well in the next stage of his career."

Finch has worked on a number of major Qantas corporate transactions throughout his career.  He also has acted for Westpac when it bought Bank of Melbourne, OneSteel when it bought Smorgon Steel, Hutchison when it merged with Vodafone, for GPT in its response to proposals from Stockland and Lend Lease and the internalisation of its management to create its current structure, and Leighton Holdings on a variety of matters including the sale of the Henry Walker Elkin business and subsequent regulatory investigations.

Johnson will assist with Finch's transition and will remain as a consultant with Qantas.