The new boss of Australian carrier Qantas is wasting no time in his new job as he chases a merger with British Airways.

Alan Joyce, 42, capped his meteoric rise at the world's 10th largest airline just last Friday, replacing Geoff Dixon, who stepped down after nearly eight years as chief executive.

Joyce inherits an airline that expects to turn a profit this year, albeit down 65 percent on last year, in contrast to rivals such as Korean Air which slid to a quarterly loss.

In the quest to merge with BA, he is not only taking on a government worried about the iconic "Flying Kangaroo" hopping offshore, but unions who successfully fought off an USD$11 billion private equity takeover bid two years ago.

Joyce may be fresh-faced, but the Irishman is a 20 year airline industry veteran, starting at Aer Lingus as an analyst, armed with a double degree in physics and mathematics.

During his eight years at Ireland's national carrier, rising through sales, marketing, network planning, revenue management and fleet planning, he worked with fellow Irishman Willie Walsh, now head of British Airways.

"The 'x' factor in the Qantas-BA discussions might be that there's a bit of affinity between the two CEOs," said Sydney-based aviation expert Derek Sadubin, at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, a consultancy.

Joyce flew to Australia 12 years ago for a job with now defunct Ansett, joined Qantas in 2000 and was tapped to launch its offshoot Jetstar in 2003, taking on Virgin Blue and now battling Tiger and AirAsia X in the no-frills business.

Copying Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair's model to reduce turnaround times and keep costs down, Joyce managed to make Jetstar profitable and expanded onto long haul routes in Asia without cannibalising passengers from its parent.

Within three years of launching, Jetstar was named low-cost carrier of the year in an annual survey by Skytrax, a UK-based consultancy.

In that time Joyce has not shrunk from a fight with unions.

"On a personal level, he's very approachable and personable and quite charming and friendly," said Peter Somerville, general manager of the Australian and International Pilots Association.

"But he well and truly knows the business that he's about, and he's made it extremely difficult for unions in Jetstar."

"It'll be a formidable challenge in dealing with him, just as he has formidable challenges in dealing with the problems of the Qantas group," Somerville said.

When Joyce got the top job at Qantas, his parents said to the dual Australian and Irish citizen, "I suppose this means you aren't coming home now," according to The Age newspaper.

Maybe a merger with BA will take him closer to home.