Originally Posted by
Superman1
Hahah yes I remember all those ‘Roadshows’ with JB… saying it was ‘“”just a tough environment for aviation of late””…..(despite all other airlines booming and the market being the best in years)……. “but don’t you worry we are the best airline around …..look at all these graphs 📈, next year we are going to be so profitable….!!” And all the happy clappers rejoiced!
Think I heard that 5 years in row … he must have thought everyone couldn’t remember the prior years roadshow…each year the graph just got steeper and steeper and more ambitious… and it was always next year things would be better……he truly was a fraud.
I know most of you won’t like this but at least AJ can make the tough decisions, has proven to be a very successful CEO and can actually turn the airline around.
Spot on Superman1 - a total and complete Bullsh*t artiste that apparently spent his time when not ensconced in a premium seat that no one else, not even positioning crew were allowed to occupy, on one occasion demonstrating just how so completely out of touch he was, allegedly having a discussion with Cabin Crew about what colour they thought he should order his new Ferrari in - I mean, talking to crew who had not had their EBA concluded for 3-4 years because, well, an incompetent CEO surrounds himself with incompetent management, about what colour he should choose for his 3/4 of a $M car FFS.
I also heard a lot of reasons why VA wouldn't participate in standard industry norms for exchange of passengers because "John said it costs us money" - anyone with 6 months experience in a real airline and a functioning brain knew that was utter nonsense, along with the other crap that he went around spouting, such as when every, ever-larger, loss was announced "Oh, but we're 'cash flow positive" - heard that one at every roadshow - and at the end of the day, he bails before the collapse with millions of dollars (no one may like Joyce but he is on record as turning down bonuses in some years and working for no pay, not this bloke, never took a cent less than was offered, the annual reports would seem to indicate), then collects an AO and takes up several Board positions, choo-choo, on the management-weasel-word-speaker to Board junkie - mostly on Boards that he couldn't possibly know anything about. As for the former Chair's obtuse statement that "Oh, well, he did build a good airline" - NO, V-Australia had done all that so the same teams worked on the Domestic Premium cabins, he did nothing, just spend billions on leases that were over market - I mean how does someone spend all that time at QF, where while not perfect, know how to negotiate leases and fuel-hedging, etc. and NEVER pay full price for an aeroplane, then go to be the CEO of another company and spend through the nose??
This bloke had sh*t on the liver about losing out to AJ and took that to VA where he put all his effort into trying to replicate it so he could satisfy his ego that he ran a big airline too. To anyone who has had any experience with narcissism, the behaviours certainly raise eyebrows.
I was once told by an ex QF employee who had spent time working with some of the divisional leadership that "You know in Qantas Centre they call him 'Mini Me' "