As Qantas loses millions due to industrial strife, Virgin chief executive John Borghetti used a business luncheon on Friday to highlight how well the nation's second-biggest airline was travelling.
Thousands of Australian passengers had their travel plans disrupted on Friday, due to Qantas flight cancellations, delays and union disputes on pay and job cuts.
Meanwhile, on Thursday Virgin moved a step closer to a proposed alliance that would give it access to Singapore Airlines' vast Asia network, with the competition regulator clearing it in a draft ruling.
It also won the `most admired' category of the International Customer Service Professionals awards this week.
On a day the overall market was down nearly one per cent, Virgin shares closed up two cents, or 6.15 per cent, at 34.5 cents.
Qantas fell half a cent to $1.56.
Mr Borghetti said pay differences between Virgin and Qantas pilots were only "single digit" and often existed because Qantas used larger aeroplanes.
They were available on industrial umpire Fair Work Australia's website, he said.
"I saw that line and must admit I did have a bit of a chuckle to myself," Mr Borghetti told an Australian British Chamber of Commerce lunch.
"If we were able to keep pilots or any part of the workforce and pay them 50 per cent less than the other guy: gee, we must be really good.
Mr Borghetti said it was important to get the comparison right.
"We don't pay the same salaries for A380 and 747 pilots because we don't have A380s and 747s ... you've got to compare like for like, the bigger the aeroplane is, the more the salary is."
Virgin's pilots union were reported as being delighted with the agreement struck in August, which filled some of the pay differentials with Qantas.
A check of the Fair Work Australia website by AAP showed a level 1 captain with Virgin Australia would be paid a fixed remuneration of $217,500 per year.
Mr Borghetti said Virgin was flying extra hours to cater for disrupted Qantas passengers this month but was otherwise focussed on its own plans to capture more of the corporate travel market.
It already has won regulatory approval for partnerships with Etihad Airways, Air New Zealand and America's Delta Air Lines.
The alliances meant it now offered more flights across the Tasman Sea and in North America than its major competitor, he said, without naming Qantas.
Stick it to em JB