Can anyone think of anything he did of any value while at VA???
He was brought in simply to cut costs. When it became clear that the previous CFO had given JB unfettered access to the lolly cabinet and JB had been spending "like a drunken sailor", Sankar was given the bullet and Hammes headhunted as a toecutter. That was the start of the austerity period where resources started being removed in earnest.
Along the way, my guess is that he worked out that JB had no idea how to run an airline, evidenced by the outrageous leases and dysfunctional fleet/airline/shareholder mix. When that penny dropped, he started trying to make some changes. 330 to LAX or AUH, get rid of Ejet, pull triple out of AUH, single type wide body etc.
You can argue all you want about the veracity of those ideas, but at least they were ideas. JB on the other hand doesn't seem to have a single thought of his own. Nevertheless, Hammes was not of the right temperment or cultural background to be able to manage an australian airline, so he had to go.
Bring in JT who, as previously stated, was way too competent for JB's liking and also had to go.
What are the odds that RS from Tiger (ex QF) was always JB's pick as future CEO, but needed some time in a similar role before he could take over at VAA. JB moves him into Tiger to get him some experience, but pressure from board forced JB to look for someone before RS was ready. Install JT until RS ready then knife him to make way for Sharp.
I really don't think anything will improve from a morale perspective with Sharp at the helm, so lets hope he knows how to turn a profit.