The most revealing thing about Branson's comments is that "I love going to Australia and the idea of having to go on Qantas or British Airways is going to be very, very painful".
It just shows how out of touch he has been with the hubbing strategy and the development of alliances, and this failure to recognise market trends has cost VS dear. If he wants to avoid BA or QF he could choose from Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, Cathay, Singapore, Malaysian, Air China, Asiana, Thai, Korean, JAL etc.
And some of these airlines even share VS's dated attitudes to half of the human race ("Singapore Girls" is so last century), so he should feel right at home.