John Thomas reported to be leaving VA

[Standby]

Ausbt twitter feed reporting JBs potential replacement is to leave VA.Nothing else at this stage.
QF shares at $5.86, VA languishing under 17 cents.
Eventually someone has to be the sacrificial lamb.
Interesting times at VA

 

[pauly7]

Wow that would be HUGE news if true!! There have been rumours that JT and JB haven't been getting along but who knows...

 

[Standby]

A very sudden departure says something
https://www.ausbt.com.au/community/view/18/6072/virgin-australia-executive-john-thomas-heads-for-the-exit

 

[Pleb Status]

Article in the Fairfax media.

Virgin Australia second in command John Thomas departs after less than a year

Having no actual airline management experience (previous experience was as a consultant) may be an issue for your future CEO.

As a customer of VA, not having the 'pioneer of auxiliary revenue' in charge may be a good thing.

 

[Justchecking]

Quick exit of high level execs, this isn't looking good. Everyday I'm wondering more and more where this company is going to.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Tigerair Australia CEO Rob Sharp to run Virgin Australia as John Thomas departs - Australian Aviation

Sharp has been appointed Virgin Australia acting group executive for airlines, effective immediately.

The veteran aviation executive, whose previous roles included head of strategy and innovation at Qantas, has been chief executive of Tigerair Australia since May 2013 and has overseen an improvement in the Virgin Australia-owned low-cost carrier’s (LCC) on-time performance and customer satisfaction amid network expansion.

Also prior to the news about Thomas, S&P Global Ratings lifts Virgin Australia outlook from negative to stable - Australian Aviation:-

“Virgin Australia’s investment in repositioning itself as a full-service airline is substantially complete, and we believe its focus has now turned to cash generation.”

 

[pauly7]

Quick exit of high level execs, this isn't looking good. Everyday I'm wondering more and more where this company is going to.

The rumour mill at the Village is running hot of course and it seems the line is 'culture fit / brand fit' which usually means some important people (JB included?) didn't 'like' the way he worked....Smells a bit funny especially the abrupt departure.... And if there is a perception he had a role to play on a lot of the job losses as well, fleet simplification and route rationalisation etc then the flock probably didn't love him either...?

Finally the other piece of gossip (and treat it as gossip) is that one of their big projects Economy X is drastically behind revenue budget, although I would have thought it's early days to call on that... but I've wondered how many people are going to actually stump up the cash - I can't see corporates allowing it in their travel policy on any ESB flights which is a bulk of their flying.

Interesting times - as others have said maybe getting rid of someone who seemed as by his background so focused on changing Virgin even more into a pay as you go airline a la Economy X style is a good thing for us pax? For the bottom line? We shall see! Buckle in for some interesting times at VA....

 

[Justchecking]

The rumour mill at the Village is running hot of course and it seems the line is 'culture fit / brand fit' which usually means some important people (JB included?) didn't 'like' the way he worked....Smells a bit funny especially the abrupt departure.... And if there is a perception he had a role to play on a lot of the job losses as well, fleet simplification and route rationalisation etc then the flock probably didn't love him either...?

The internal atmosphere in that company has never been pleasant from what I hear so I wouldn't be too concerned with people turning on each other. That was always bound to happen no matter what. Not a week goes by where Game Of Thrones isn't in full swing over in Bowen Hills.

Finally the other piece of gossip (and treat it as gossip) is that one of their big projects Economy X is drastically behind revenue budget, although I would have thought it's early days to call on that... but I've wondered how many people are going to actually stump up the cash - I can't see corporates allowing it in their travel policy on any ESB flights which is a bulk of their flying.

I would not be surprised at all if economy X turns out to be a waste of time and money tbh. Taking away leg room that used to be there then putting it back and trying to charge for it, always come across somewhat like theft or extortion to the public. Not saying it is those things but the public aren't stupid enough to not realise you're just trying to extract another $ out of their wallet and won't pay for it out of principle.

But it looks like a fall-guy situation if they are indeed blaming their quarter losses on something like a new project that's barely been rolled out and has had all a fortnight's worth of advertising. Are they that cash strapped that something failing to bring in revenue within a few weeks is big enough to fire someone over? That's an alarming thing if you think about it. And well, I doubt anyone coming in and doing anything that looks like a rollback of JB's 'genius' is going to go down well politically. Still I think it's a bad move to get rid of someone inside 12 months because of no new profits when the one at the top has had 7yrs to get the cash rolling in and it's still uncertain that's ever going to happen.

Interesting times - as others have said maybe getting rid of someone who seemed as by his background so focused on changing Virgin even more into a pay as you go airline a la Economy X style is a good thing for us pax? For the bottom line? We shall see! Buckle in for some interesting times at VA....

My own speculation for entertainment purposes goes a little like this. The very public lack of well wishing and intentional appearances of 'we fired him' indicates either bad feeling or perhaps JT saw the shark infested waters for what they were and jumped ship to a competitor or even just a better job entirely and it's sour grapes. Either way I have very little confidence in this company still being around in the years to come. For all the changes instituted they are still well behind their targets and their rising star status is getting far too long in the tooth to ride on. We are the better part of a decade out from this transformation and Virgin has very little to show for it.

 

[moa999]

Having no actual airline management experience (previous experience was as a consultant) may be an issue for your future CEO.

Albeit Hrdlicka with a similar background (mostly Bain consulting) joined Qantas in 2010 and has been CEO Jetstar for the last 5 years or so

 

[Spongbob]

Albeit Hrdlicka with a similar background (mostly Bain consulting) joined Qantas in 2010 and has been CEO Jetstar for the last 5 years or so

Some might question if Jetstar is an airline.