AFR April 02 2016
Several weeks ago Air New Zealand's chief executive, Christopher Luxon, stood up in a private meeting and called for Virgin boss John Borghetti to resign. He has no such plans.It is not unusual for big personalities to clash in the high-octane world of aviation, but things have been particularly tense among Virgin Australia's shareholders lately.
Things came to a head several weeks ago when Air New Zealand's headstrong chief executive, Christopher Luxon, stood up in a private meeting and called for Virgin boss John Borghetti to resign.
Virgin chairman Elizabeth Bryan, who is said to run a tight ship, was having none of it and is believed to have stared down Luxon, who this week quit the board and has put his airline's 26 per cent stake in Virgin up for sale.
But the motivation for Air NZ ending its five-year relationship with Australia's second-largest airline runs far deeper than a personality clash between two airline chiefs.
Air NZ has been disappointed with Virgin's financial performance for some time, and was becoming increasingly concerned it would be asked to stump up more cash when Borghetti completes a capital review in two to three months.'
CAPA April 2016 - 'In Feb-2015, Mr Luxon noted that Virgin’s product investments were over and the end of the capacity war meant that now “is the time to get profitable” – a comment that was met with a reminder that criticism should stay within the boardroom.'
NZ CEO, Christopher Luxon, has been the only shareholder to state publicly that Virgin "needs to get profitable", and he was reported to have called for VAH CEO John Borghetti to resign before his own departure from the board. Chairman Elizabeth Bryan equally, reportedly rejected the call.'