A textbook example of “The Peter Principle”.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_principle

... or the Dunning-Kruger effect...

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.gmf...8936aff3d.jpeg

Scary stuff. There will be no more cash to bail out Virgin, however, I’d suggest that whatever HNA do or don’t do with VA, it will have little impact on their problems.

HNA bosses are well connected , I’m sure they’ve enjoyed the big spending spree over the journey and no doubt they hoped the music would continue . It appears Beijing have put them on a short leash now . Probably to big to fail though ?

And is....

gone. :D

It is an interesting comment on our corporate world that one of the few people to make any significant money out of the airline (excluding salaries) has just left the building having made millions over and above his already generous salary, in an environment where shareholders saw a significant fall in the value of their holdings and funded massive losses.

it is also interesting that said person’s corporate bedfellow also oversaw the virtual destruction of a certain unnamed middle eastern airline and ‘joined together’ (look up joined together in Arabic) with a ragtag bunch of airlines which almost without exception have fallen over or are close to it (maybe with the exception of VA which does not appear to be quite as tenuous as say an Indian carrier who shall remain nameless but has many ‘jets’ grounded due to lack of lease payments.)

i wonder how much they bounced ideas off each other.

That said the strategy may have been generally ok, though it has to be said that the predictions that Virgin Blue in its original guise was doomed to fail have to be viewed in the context of the fact that it made more profit during the 10 or so years of its existence prior to the management change (I won’t say leadership) in an environment where it was expanding exponentially than it did over the following 8 years when the airline was repositioned in the market but where growth stagnated.

An OK strategy though doesn’t mean a lot if the execution is flawed. I expect that the last 8-9 years or so will become a study in how NOT to do things and someone will write what will become a university management school text book like Worst to First by Gordon Bethune or A Splash of Colors: The Self-Destruction of Braniff International by John J Nance (a book which details many similarities to a certain airline I might add).

The staff have done their bit (for the most part) to try and make this work but the fish rots at the head and I hope the new guy has a good head in his shoulders and doesn’t come in with a cut costs mindset otherwise we will end up like QR with even fewer staff and resources and a massive hurdle to overcome to get things back on track (pardon the rail metaphor)

i wait with baited breath

echo your sentiment. virgin/borghetti stands little chance against the red tail which enjoys -inherited- scale and capital from its former owner who I suggest aren’t ready to severe ties completely yet and indirectly shields the red tail from foreign threat or influence.

As long as this is the status quo, virgin won’t stand a chance irrespective of leadership.

...my opinion...

That’s a curious notion.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but do government policies not allow a 100% foreign owned airline to come and set up shop in Australia and directly compete in the domestic market?

Indeed, has the Australian government intervened to stop numerous, foreign government owned entities from purchasing and then pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into a particular airline to directly fund its advance into the market previously held by ‘the red tail’?

If that is an attempt to ‘shield the red tail from foreign threat’ then they are doing a lousy job of it.

Domestic only. Tiger being the only example really.

Well to be fair Virgin Blue was pretty much totally foreign owned until it was flogged to Patrick’s or toll or floated or whatever happened - I can’t remember the order of events.

Air NZ had quite advanced plans to set up a domestic operation years ago I believe but for various reasons it didn’t happen. Nothing to say it won’t happen in the future.

Its an interesting notion and not any different from any of the ‘other’ operators within aus or corporate aus in general for that matter. But it beggars the questions, what would have to happen for the exec team to not get these bonuses? It appears folding is about it!

Youre not wrong in everything you’ve said. I spoke with respect to the red tail context specifically and the application of its qsa.

Looks like this CEO has quickly worked out that staff sitting in space available Business Class doesn’t affect the balance sheet and might create some good will and further flexibilty.

Let’s hope people behave themselves!