Ero Plano implies that he/she was satisfied with BG's achievements, & I also believe in giving credit where credit's due. Therefore I would say the best thing BG ever did was convince Branson to start Virgin Blue.
Of course, everything after that was basically a combination of dumb luck & timing. Need I mention the fact that even a complete moron could make money from aviation after one of your major competitors has just folded & left a gaping hole in the market?
- Original uniforms: FAIL
- Live2Air: FAIL
- Premium Economy: FAIL
- Promoting a culture where everyone is on the same footing, where hierarchy is non-existent (unless you were BG), & pilots are no more important than baggage handlers (no offence intended towards bag chuckers, but you guys didn't spend $80,000-$100,000 + spend years doing the hard yards to consolidate your skills & qualifications for your current job description): FAIL
- Publicly stating how much he valued & respected us, whilst internally showing us nothing short of contempt: FAIL
- Making financially misleading statements about the state of the company, only to have the incoming CEO be forced to clean up the mess & announce the real state of affairs: FAIL
...I could go on, but you get the idea.
I'm not a kiss-ass kinda guy, & it wouldn't be the first time I've gotten myself in strife for saying what I think, but I genuinely believe JB is the best thing that ever happened to
VB/VA. That's not to say he won't make tough decisions that will piss people off from time to time (as I've acknowledged in previous comments), but he's never been anything other than upfront, forthright, a straight shooter - & true to his word in delivering on all the things he said he would in his first twelve months in the job. Having spoken with him personally, I find him to be very approachable, genuinely appreciative of the efforts of his staff, & always willing to discuss whatever issues might be of concern to us at the front line. That doesn't mean he always gives you the answer you want to hear, but he always gives you the time of day - & that speaks volumes to me.
Reinventing an airline from the ground up is not a simple task, any more than it is cheap. It goes without saying that our bottom line does not look healthy at the moment, but I am not concerned. Of course, if we're still scraping the barrel in two or three years from now, well that's another story. Nevertheless we are in a transitional phase at present, & with natural disasters of the last few months affecting leisure travel (which, let's face it, wouldn't make things any better regardless of who was running the airline), I wouldn't expect things to be any different. The important thing is that JB is making changes that are (a) necessary, (b) costly - because you have to spend money in order to make money - & JB's not afraid to do so, & (c) will make for a far better airline when the changes are complete & the market comes to realise just how good the end result is.