You are right many did see him as the Messiah, personally I listened and gave him the benefit of the doubt as with any new employee. I became concerned when he purchased Skywest as I knew Alliance or Network were the pick of the bunch. I was indeed shouted down and told by one colleague I should leave because I wasn’t singing from the same song sheet.
Regardless, when I met him I treated him with respect and would have had I run into him on his last day. It’s just my opinion that the new CEO would have done a better job had he been afforded the opportunity 9 years ago. Maybe I’m wrong.
I’ve always believed Qf did a better job as they had that economy of scale you mention plus years more experience. I recall paxing one time on a QF 330 in uniform last minute and couldn’t believe how well I was treated, it was incredible they couldn’t do enough for me despite me being the opposition. I also noted how clean, quiet and calm the atmosphere was in the Qf terminals, I was certainly envious as the opposite is true at Virgin.
Anyway, there are a lot of valid comments on here but some are a little gleeful and I think this is concerning. If Virgin collapsed it would no doubt be replaced be a very low condition competitor with serious clout.