The projected cash flows for VA 2 years ago may well have put it above the line in terms of profitability.
But this is now a VERY different situation. The world is on the brink of a serious recession lead by the USA (bordering on depression if you read some of the more left field commentaries floating around) , commercial credit availability is, at best limited, with interest rates reflecting this tightness.
Discretionary spending on overseas travel, particularly to and from the USA is plummetting, yet this is the stuff that VA is supposed to be making money from.
Virgin Blue has its' own serious issues. It's a stand alone organisation, per seat costs now above Jetstar, limited access to cash reserves (VA will take most of this), horrendous overnight crewing accommodation costs, interest financing, brand identification etc etc.
When
VB started it had clear goals, but even back then it nearly fell over. It was only Ansett's demise that gave it the kick start it needed.
Perhaps Virgin's leadership team should go back to basics and refocus the core operation to one which is at least able to survive domestically in this degraded economic climate.
As employees, we sometimes place far too much faith in the ability of managers to make the correct decisions in a timely manner.
I hope this is not a case of blindly following BG and his team as they jump off the cliff.