20 buyers now circling Virgin Australia
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What do any of them do? Virgin is a revolutionary management team.
She introduced 'The Experience' we all know affectionally as 'Wiggy'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...led-Wiggy.html
She introduced 'The Experience' we all know affectionally as 'Wiggy'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...led-Wiggy.html
it was that embarrassing I switched channel very quickly.
After all this crap is over, if airlines want passengers on their seats, then inspire them with proper commercials, no friggen wigs, no friggen choirs
just brute force T/Os, gopro on tails yeah baby 70s baby, remember TAA/Ansett baby. I wanna catch that plane baby. Get those junior jet clubs going baby.
Just friggen inspire me to go flying you drongos.
The demise of Virgin over many years was obvious on the front line. Virgin management and those true believers who had their snouts entrenched in the Virgin trough thought the party would last forever....Day in day out you could see the damage that was being done. Problem was when you raised issues you were quickly given excuses why it was so, sometimes to the point of questioning your own sanity. Everyone will remember that "big picture" garbage that was spruiked so often. One thing for sure out of this mess is there is now a laser beam focus on excuses in the 737 operation. People are going to be needing to watch their backs cause Bain are going to ensure they get a return on their investment.
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"Virgin Australia's Danielle Keighery takes off for BoQ", so Virgin is about to lose an over-paid position created for a PR exec who wanted parity with Olivia Wirth back when Livvy was doing marketing and 'customer experience'. This is the sort of nonsense which Bain can and should be cutting through. Danielle Keighery no doubt saw the writing on the wall and jumped before she was pushed. Scurrah is wise to be rid of her too, apparently although JB hired her early on, they ended up massively falling out, not sure if that is a reflection of a similar pattern which played out with John Thomas or if it's because DK saw that JB's days were numbered and wanted to make sure everyone knew she was not part of his 'squad' in order to survive any post-JB cull in case Scurrah did the same as JB when he came on and axed a lot of high-level people. Anyway here is the story.
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/virg...0200826-p55pd4
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/virg...0200826-p55pd4
As Bain prepares to take the keys to Virgin Australia, chief experience officer Danielle Keighery has resigned from the airline to take on the role of chief customer officer at Bank of Queensland.
BoQ’s new chief executive George Frazis – Westpac’s former retail boss – is in the early stages of a corporate transformation and has lured Keighery to the lender.
Keighery was one of John Borghetti’s first hires at Virgin Blue in 2010, and joined from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. What a decade it’s been, with Borghetti’s expansion and complete (but sadly unprofitable) reimagination of the budget carrier, a capacity war with Qantas, the entry (and rancorous exit) of several foreign airlines from the shareholder register and ultimately Virgin’s COVID collapse into administration.
In new CEO Paul Scurrah’s first management reshuffle last year Keighery was handed responsibility for product and service in addition to marketing and public relations. Her replacement is yet to be identified, though perhaps Bain is already banking the headcount reduction…
BoQ’s new chief executive George Frazis – Westpac’s former retail boss – is in the early stages of a corporate transformation and has lured Keighery to the lender.
Keighery was one of John Borghetti’s first hires at Virgin Blue in 2010, and joined from Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. What a decade it’s been, with Borghetti’s expansion and complete (but sadly unprofitable) reimagination of the budget carrier, a capacity war with Qantas, the entry (and rancorous exit) of several foreign airlines from the shareholder register and ultimately Virgin’s COVID collapse into administration.
In new CEO Paul Scurrah’s first management reshuffle last year Keighery was handed responsibility for product and service in addition to marketing and public relations. Her replacement is yet to be identified, though perhaps Bain is already banking the headcount reduction…
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That would be the most disgusting atrocious wast of money I have ever seen in any business. Zero inspiration to fly that airline. In fact
it was that embarrassing I switched channel very quickly.
After all this crap is over, if airlines want passengers on their seats, then inspire them with proper commercials, no friggen wigs, no friggen choirs
just brute force T/Os, gopro on tails yeah baby 70s baby, remember TAA/Ansett baby. I wanna catch that plane baby. Get those junior jet clubs going baby.
Just friggen inspire me to go flying you drongos.
it was that embarrassing I switched channel very quickly.
After all this crap is over, if airlines want passengers on their seats, then inspire them with proper commercials, no friggen wigs, no friggen choirs
just brute force T/Os, gopro on tails yeah baby 70s baby, remember TAA/Ansett baby. I wanna catch that plane baby. Get those junior jet clubs going baby.
Just friggen inspire me to go flying you drongos.
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Deloitte fees
On the news today that Deloitte has pocketed $26.8M thus far...[more to come I'd imagine]
I guess the tea lady was billed out at $400/hr and will get a Xmas bonus of a voucher for a free trip on VA.
I guess the tea lady was billed out at $400/hr and will get a Xmas bonus of a voucher for a free trip on VA.
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ex ABC News- The Business.....
Now 'this'- is what it is (no onus/view)...., it is the ABC's article.
Link here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs.../12599552?nw=0
rgds all
S28- BE
Link here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/programs.../12599552?nw=0
rgds all
S28- BE
Deloitteses will have earned every cent of that 26 million. No bull.
And I say again to all youse pilots who think a Directors job or a CEO position is money for jam, read the Deloitte report and think again.
My own opinion is that Virgins fatal error was appointing an MD instead of a CEO.
‘’A CEO is an employee. She is not privy to the Boards deliberations. An MD is.
To put that another way, a Board can ask WTF is this CEO doing? Where is she taking us? Do we want to go?
’
With an MD, she has her hands on the steering wheel and the other directors are just along for the ride.
You do not want to be a director unless you understand both the business and corporate governance. The Virgin Board didn’t understand either of the two.
And I say again to all youse pilots who think a Directors job or a CEO position is money for jam, read the Deloitte report and think again.
My own opinion is that Virgins fatal error was appointing an MD instead of a CEO.
‘’A CEO is an employee. She is not privy to the Boards deliberations. An MD is.
To put that another way, a Board can ask WTF is this CEO doing? Where is she taking us? Do we want to go?
’
With an MD, she has her hands on the steering wheel and the other directors are just along for the ride.
You do not want to be a director unless you understand both the business and corporate governance. The Virgin Board didn’t understand either of the two.
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Deloitteses will have earned every cent of that 26 million. No bull.
And I say again to all youse pilots who think a Directors job or a CEO position is money for jam, read the Deloitte report and think again.
My own opinion is that Virgins fatal error was appointing an MD instead of a CEO.
‘’A CEO is an employee. She is not privy to the Boards deliberations. An MD is.
To put that another way, a Board can ask WTF is this CEO doing? Where is she taking us? Do we want to go?
’
With an MD, she has her hands on the steering wheel and the other directors are just along for the ride.
You do not want to be a director unless you understand both the business and corporate governance. The Virgin Board didn’t understand either of the two.
And I say again to all youse pilots who think a Directors job or a CEO position is money for jam, read the Deloitte report and think again.
My own opinion is that Virgins fatal error was appointing an MD instead of a CEO.
‘’A CEO is an employee. She is not privy to the Boards deliberations. An MD is.
To put that another way, a Board can ask WTF is this CEO doing? Where is she taking us? Do we want to go?
’
With an MD, she has her hands on the steering wheel and the other directors are just along for the ride.
You do not want to be a director unless you understand both the business and corporate governance. The Virgin Board didn’t understand either of the two.
Bullwinkle,
if you don't like the title ' Chief Experience Officer', what do you think.of 'General Manager Customer Journey'? Believe it or not, such a position existed at Tiger before it was wound up.
if you don't like the title ' Chief Experience Officer', what do you think.of 'General Manager Customer Journey'? Believe it or not, such a position existed at Tiger before it was wound up.
Last edited by Servo; 26th Aug 2020 at 22:02.
Servo, you beat me to it. This behaviour is the source of my warning.
[So what does a failed US toy chain have in common with a collapsed Australian airline?
The Bain which took part in the private equity buyout of Toys R Us is the same Bain Capital that is about to take ownership of Virgin Australia.
So it is possible Toys R Us may give some clues as to what Virgin's future under Bain might look like.
Starting with Virgin's aeroplanes, of which it owns half.
Even the planes it does own have been fully borrowed against, but Eileen Appelbaum believes Bain will be looking for an opportunity to extract value from them as those loans are paid down.
"If things begin to recover, you can imagine that Bain would sell the aeroplanes to a leasing company and then Virgin Australia will have to rent the aeroplanes back and Bain will walk off with whatever they sold it for," Professor Appelbaum postulated.
Another common money-making strategy of private equity is what is known as the "Management Services Agreement", which Eileen Appelbaum said will be signed the day Bain takes control of Virgin.
She believes the airline will be paying hefty fees for advice and services it may, or may not, need.
"A lot depends on how the negotiation, or how that management services agreement is structured, whether Virgin Australia has a chance to come out of this in good shape," Professor Appelbaum argued.
Also affecting what shape Virgin will be in is how its takeover will be paid for.
[url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-25/bain-capital-offer-3.5-billion-virgin-australia-creditors-vote/12592742]It was revealed this week in the creditors' report Bain was offering $3.5 billion for the stricken airline.
Governments have pumped $130 billion into keeping airlines afloat, but many have already collapsed and more will follow with big consequences for the cheap overseas travel we've become used to.
Read moreIf, like Toys R Us, most of that gets loaded onto Virgin's balance sheet as debt, the interest payments will be a big drain on the airline's finances as it tries to reinvent itself to become viable.
According to Professor Appelbaum, regulators in the United States have concluded that if a company has debt of more than six times annual earnings, it is at high risk of going under.
That was exactly the situation Virgin Australia had got itself into before its collapse, with $7 billion of debt combined with heavy losses, which saw coronavirus send it spiralling into administration.
When asked by the ABC if Virgin would end up footing the bill for its own takeover, Bain Capital refused to comment, instead directing the ABC towards the creditors' report.
Bain has publicly stated, and reaffirmed to the ABC, that Mr Scurrah will continue to run the airline under its ownership.
Bain Capital says current Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah, who enjoys widespread staff support, will remain in charge.(AAP: Joel Carrett)Although Bain Capital is currently backing Mr Scurrah, Eileen Appelbaum is not sure how long that will last.
She said the reason she fears Mr Scurrah will not last much longer in the job is because CEOs often feel loyalty to their staff and customers that can clash with private equity's common desire to make quick money before it sells.
"The first thing to look out for is, do they replace the CEO?" she cautioned.
"That would be a warning sign, and who do they replace the CEO with?
"Is it somebody who knows anything about running an airline? That would be very unusual."
Eileen Appelbaum points to Toys R Us, where the CEO installed by Bain and its partners had no experience of the toy industry, which made a bad situation worse.
The Bain which took part in the private equity buyout of Toys R Us is the same Bain Capital that is about to take ownership of Virgin Australia.
So it is possible Toys R Us may give some clues as to what Virgin's future under Bain might look like.
Starting with Virgin's aeroplanes, of which it owns half.
Even the planes it does own have been fully borrowed against, but Eileen Appelbaum believes Bain will be looking for an opportunity to extract value from them as those loans are paid down.
"If things begin to recover, you can imagine that Bain would sell the aeroplanes to a leasing company and then Virgin Australia will have to rent the aeroplanes back and Bain will walk off with whatever they sold it for," Professor Appelbaum postulated.
Another common money-making strategy of private equity is what is known as the "Management Services Agreement", which Eileen Appelbaum said will be signed the day Bain takes control of Virgin.
She believes the airline will be paying hefty fees for advice and services it may, or may not, need.
"A lot depends on how the negotiation, or how that management services agreement is structured, whether Virgin Australia has a chance to come out of this in good shape," Professor Appelbaum argued.
Also affecting what shape Virgin will be in is how its takeover will be paid for.
[url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-25/bain-capital-offer-3.5-billion-virgin-australia-creditors-vote/12592742]It was revealed this week in the creditors' report Bain was offering $3.5 billion for the stricken airline.
Airlines are in deep trouble
Governments have pumped $130 billion into keeping airlines afloat, but many have already collapsed and more will follow with big consequences for the cheap overseas travel we've become used to.Read moreIf, like Toys R Us, most of that gets loaded onto Virgin's balance sheet as debt, the interest payments will be a big drain on the airline's finances as it tries to reinvent itself to become viable.
According to Professor Appelbaum, regulators in the United States have concluded that if a company has debt of more than six times annual earnings, it is at high risk of going under.
That was exactly the situation Virgin Australia had got itself into before its collapse, with $7 billion of debt combined with heavy losses, which saw coronavirus send it spiralling into administration.
When asked by the ABC if Virgin would end up footing the bill for its own takeover, Bain Capital refused to comment, instead directing the ABC towards the creditors' report.
Look at who is running the show
Then there is current Virgin boss, Paul Scurrah.Bain has publicly stated, and reaffirmed to the ABC, that Mr Scurrah will continue to run the airline under its ownership.
Bain Capital says current Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah, who enjoys widespread staff support, will remain in charge.(AAP: Joel Carrett)Although Bain Capital is currently backing Mr Scurrah, Eileen Appelbaum is not sure how long that will last.She said the reason she fears Mr Scurrah will not last much longer in the job is because CEOs often feel loyalty to their staff and customers that can clash with private equity's common desire to make quick money before it sells.
"The first thing to look out for is, do they replace the CEO?" she cautioned.
"That would be a warning sign, and who do they replace the CEO with?
"Is it somebody who knows anything about running an airline? That would be very unusual."
Eileen Appelbaum points to Toys R Us, where the CEO installed by Bain and its partners had no experience of the toy industry, which made a bad situation worse.
Sunfish, I know you have been saying it for a while and I agree. Have the whole time.
It is a big game of monopoly for these people, with a bypass of the go right to jail place on the board. The amount of "fees" is staggering. Little solace for the 3000+ employees that have lost their job to see $38 million siphoned off in a few months. It will pale into significance the amount Bain will siphon off over the next few years, I expect.
It is a big game of monopoly for these people, with a bypass of the go right to jail place on the board. The amount of "fees" is staggering. Little solace for the 3000+ employees that have lost their job to see $38 million siphoned off in a few months. It will pale into significance the amount Bain will siphon off over the next few years, I expect.