Just read this whole thread and it is fairly obvious that we are all very loyal and wholeheartily defend our employers.
I agree that sometimes Branson's media stunts can wear a little thin, but he's a media tart (sorry should reword that), he's a billionaire media tart who uses the media to his advantage. He is always accessable to the media and answers all questions asked of him,no matter how stupid they are.I've been at a media conference with him present and the man is gifted at playing the media. He has made the media a friend, not an enemy(who would want the media as an enemy in this country,our tall poppy syndrome would tear you apart).
As somebody said earlier,if it's not broke don't fix it,it works for him and must keep the old advertising budget down. Remember
VB is a low cost,yes low cost airline not discount,it tries to keep it's costs down and then pass these onto the public.Not raise costs, then slug the punter with higher fares.
At this point
VB has 25% of the market(gunning for more) and has just been named with the 3rd most respected CEO behind Sony and Harvey Norman in regard to consumer confidence(or something along those lines),they are expanding rapidly and becoming more respected all the time.
People who work for
VB are normally new to the airline industry and when an advertisement comes up for Qantas they see dollars in their eyes and all rush off and apply. I would no doubt say that this happened at Ansett as well before Virgin. Good luck to them, but with the industry world wide the way it is, eventually Qantas will have to lower their costs to stay viable. It's already started -: starting up Australian, trying to buy Air NZ,freezing wages and so forth.
Let's look at the big picture guys.
WE"VE ALL GOT A GREAT LIFE FLYING AROUND THE COUNTRY AND WE'VE BOTH GOT STRONG STABLE COMPANIES THAT ARE'NT GOING BROKE OR FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY.
Be happy & stop slagging off at each other.
Sorry about the rambling. Just finished a 4 day trip and have had a couple of night caps.