Qantas Airways Ltd. is like a troubled Australian celebrity. The airline is both a source of national pride, and often reviled. That its vaunted chief executive officer should depart amid a scandal, instead of lauded for 15 years of successful stewardship, is a sad but fitting chapter in the story of the world’s safest carrier.

Alan Joyce only had two months left in his term, so the handover to new CEO Vanessa Hudson won’t be particularly disruptive. He fell on his sword because Australia’s competition watchdog caught the company selling seats on flights that had already been cancelled. According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Qantas continued advertising more than 8,000 flights for an average of two weeks, and for as long as 47 days, even after that service had been scrapped.

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