I would be surprised if they weren't looking at QF. Probably also JQ, Airnorth, Alliance etc.

Lookleft, sorry I should have explained a bit better. The rumours that I have heard are that the people looking at QF are already employed at VA, not the redundant people, but yes, I would assume the ‘redundees’ (is that a word?…no) would be looking everywhere.

And a new VA Chief Pilot. Discuss.

Major surgery is needed in Flight Ops.

The Herald Sun have just put out an article highlighting the high number of people that have departed under current management.

Given JH's "Captains's pick" for a CP at Jetstar and the damage that individual wrought, I'm not surprised Virgin flight Ops is a mess.

Enjoy your new Chief Pilot at VA, no comment except, buckle up !

7:00PM MARCH 23, 2022

Virgin Australia has lost a string of senior managers since its sale to US private equity firm Bain Capital as a result of the furious pace of restructuring and industry-wide job retention challenges.

Many of those who have left answered directly to CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, including chief pilot *Michael Fitzgerald, group medical officer Sara Souter, head of revenue Russell Shaw and his successor Paul Carroll.

Captain Fitzgerald had spent almost 20 years with Virgin after joining as a first officer on the Boeing 737 in 2003.

Although he declined to comment on the reasons for leaving Virgin Australia, it is understood his role had become almost unbearably difficult due to the Covid crisis and pressure to renegotiate pilots’ work agreements.

Late on Wednesday, it was revealed his job would be filled by Qantas’s head of fleet operations Captain Alex Scamps, at a date to be confirmed.

Virgin Australia also farewelled Dr Souter in September last year, Mr Shaw and Mr Carroll in October last year and February this year respectively, Ms Watts in January and head of airline operations and technology Brendan O’Kane late last year.

Dr Souter has since joined the Qantas medical team, while Mr Carroll returned to a previous role with AirAsia after less than a year with Virgin Australia.

Several other experienced managers have departed since the start of the year to the surprise and dismay of colleagues.

People safety and wellbeing manager Liv Hewitt left in February after 14 years with Virgin; performance and improvement specialist Natalie Maia departed after 8½ years; customer experience manager Caitlin Malone called it quits after 17 years, and team travel leader Kerri Homann left after nine years.

The intense pace of restructuring and push to return Virgin Australia to profit under Ms Hrdlicka was considered a factor in the loss of talent, with the airline’s owners understood to be planning to re-list the company on the ASX next year.

The timeline for the initial public offering was pushed out from late 2022 after the Omicron variant ravaged airline schedules in the important Christmas and summer holiday period.

Ms Hrdlicka recently pointed out that, since she took over as CEO, $300m in cost savings had been made through restructuring and new employee work agreements. She also indicated Virgin was in the process of filling hundreds of positions as air travel took off again in response to an easing of Covid restrictions.

For some former employees, fears of a change in workplace *culture were realised after Paul Scurrah was dumped as CEO when the New York-based Bain Capital bought the airline in November 2020.

One former manager said since that time the decision had been made not to bother with the annual employee survey due to the expectation “no one would come up with anything positive”.

But a Virgin Australia spokeswoman said the airline continued to “successfully build its team and attract great people” such as Captain Scamps.

“We are lucky enough to have a strong brand that people want to work with and for, and we offer a blend of the type of work, culture, focus areas and non-financial benefits people are looking for,” the spokeswoman said.

Across the leadership and management teams, turnover was considered “normal” at about 5 per cent.

Qantas had also experienced a high staff turnover in certain parts of the airline, particularly technology, where highly skilled workers were in demand in other industries.

Last month Qantas CEO Alan Joyce revealed Qantas had lost close to a third of its technology workers, due to the Covid crisis making the aviation industry a much less attractive employer.

In response, Qantas was offering the incentive of 1000 shares in the airline, worth more than $5000 on the current share price, providing the employee remained with the company until mid-2023 and the airline achieved its Covid recovery targets.

Across the Tasman, Air New Zealand gave its employees $1000 worth of shares in the airline last year, in recognition of the personal hardship they endured during the Covid crisis.

CEO Greg Foran, a former Walmart US chief executive, said one of the lessons that was reinforced to him over the course of the pandemic was the importance of a positive workplace culture.

“It trumps everything else. It allows you to operate, it allows you to build a great plan,” Mr Foran said.

“There’s no doubt that we’re seeing a little bit more turnover (in staff) in some of the non-airline areas but this is a wonderful business, a wonderful brand and the team that weathered the storm really well is looking forward to the bright side as we begin to reopen.”

If you really mean “no comment’,and don’t wish to expand,can anybody else shed some light on what “buckle up” may mean?

worked for JH back in a2milk and toxic and incompetent as ever. if u look at jhk, it was a total complete failure. now voz is all infected with her bad blood cells

Turbulence ahead!

The problem with VA is that they need more ‘specialists’. Definitely not enough ‘specialist’ titles at the place anymore. Maybe they will rebrand pilots as ‘left seat specialists’ and ‘right seat specialists’?

[QUOTE=Renton Field;11204829]If you really mean “no comment’,and don’t wish to expand,can anybody else shed some light on what “buckle up” may mean?[/QUOTE

maybe leopards can change their spots. Why don’t you report back to us in a year or so. We are seeing this as a win over here.

[QUOTE=Australopithecus;11204937]Damn that is all VA needs. Sigh. First JH and now this guy. Kicking goals at VA.

Frankly, it’s a win for AS. It sets him up. He’s a strange cat who has thrived in the deputy role and is the perfect foil to implement the direction set by JH. He would sell his family to be seen to be successful. He is a rubbish communicator, probably has Asperger’s, and will not be inspiring the troops. Only in aviation are ‘these people’ able to climb the ranks, but he has through nepotism and hard work. It is indicative of how the role of chief pilot’s has changed. Gone are the days where the role required leadership, influence and effective communication both up and down the chain. He is another puppet…he won’t be representing the pilots, he won’t have creative solutions to add…good luck…good riddance.

The 'good people' do exist, some who would make some pretty good and respected CPs. However they are the smart ones, not stupid enough to even contemplate taking on such a role. These people are normally pushed out anyway, to make way for the likes that you mention. I have asked my much younger colleagues who sit beside me if they would ever take on management roles, or even the top job. Nobody is interested. Thats not overly great for the next generation, so the snakes that take these posts will continue to cycle in and out.

Is Virgin looking for an IR manager? I’ll make sure NS is made aware of the “opportunity”.

Very good 😂

I have worked in two airlines where the executives thought that the solution to their problems was to bring in a Qantas pilot. I'm not meaning any disrespect as Qantas pilots in the culture of Qantas are very good at what they do. The problem occurs when you try and operate in a different culture to the one you have spent your entire career in. You can't just think that what has always worked in Qantas automatically translates into a new airline. Very few flight ops managers have the intellect to think outside the rigid boxes they have been used to and comfortable to be working in.

Remember Tiger pulling in QF Alumni when it was grounded? Was the first thing they did. They didn’t hang around long once the initial problems got sorted out, headed back to retirement. Kept the regulator happy during the process, made a whole heap of cash, and off they went.

Really should have been a internal candidate here. However you will need to wait for a post JH era for that. Hardly known for looking after existing employees at any gig she rocks up at, always brings her own in. And they leave with her also.