I've never met JB and can only judge on the events that are currently happening at VA.
As a frequent flyer of theirs, they have a good product but one can sense that they are trying too hard to replicate Qantas and they've pushed hard to do so. Trying to compete with a 90 year old company with a fiercely loyal customer base was never going to be easy.
VA isn't Qantas and it was never going to be. The CEO has misread the situation or has been caught up in trying to outdo Qantas so much that's he has completely lost his business sense and almost made it personal.
And that, amongst other factors as outlined by others is why in my opinion VA is not making money.