Richard Branson: not making John Borghetti CEO "was Qantas' biggest mistake ever"

[SteveJohnson]

Hard to see how anybody could disagree with this unless they are a 'dyed in the wool' Qantas loyalist.

"Qantas made its biggest mistake ever by not making John their chief executive" Branson reflected in Perth following Virgin Australia's launch of its new regional arm. "If they had, I think that Australian aviation would be extremely different today."

Branson: letting Borghetti go "was Qantas' biggest mistake ever" - Flights | hotels | frequent flyer | business class - Australian Business Traveller

 

[BAM1748]

I'm a QF supporter and I agree. John is a good operator an on reflection Australia is lucky to have him in the airline business as I'm sure other airlines would grab him if they could.

matt

 

[shifty]

I'm a QF supporter and I agree. John is a good operator an on reflection Australia is lucky to have him in the airline business as I'm sure other airlines would grab him if they could.

matt

You can't help but agree.

 

[777]

Agreed.

Both because i think he would have done much better at Qantas than the incumbent but also because he was the person most capable of strengthening their main competitor. It's a lose/ lose for Qantas.

 

[simongr]

I think it is hard to assess whether they made a mistake. He has basically turned VA from an LCC to another version of QF. It is hard to know what he would have done differently at QF to make a more profound difference to the airline.

- The A380s would still have been delayed
- The 787s would still have been delayed
- Industrial relations would not have been dramatically better

I think we will really only be able to see if the mistake was as big as SRB makes out in another five years when JB has transformed VA beyond just another decent carrier.

 

[Paddy55]

I think it is hard to assess whether they made a mistake. He has basically turned VA from an LCC to another version of QF. It is hard to know what he would have done differently at QF to make a more profound difference to the airline.

- The A380s would still have been delayed
- The 787s would still have been delayed
- Industrial relations would not have been dramatically better

I think we will really only be able to see if the mistake was as big as SRB makes out in another five years when JB has transformed VA beyond just another decent carrier.

I agree, however it is nice to contemplate "what if" sometimes.
JB has a great reputation, and, well, AJs struggled at times as his JQ heritage seems to have been driving QF down rather than lifting QFi up.
Seems to be changing now, but 'what if'...

Who knows, 777s might be part of QFs vocabulary by now

 

[oz_mark]

I think it is hard to assess whether they made a mistake. He has basically turned VA from an LCC to another version of QF.

From a Qantas perspective, surely the mistake was allowing someone to go across to Virgin and create competition in an area that was pretty much a Qantas monopoly?

 

[simongr]

It is a fair point - one might argue that having someone from QF at VA has turned VA into a clone of QF. If someone from outside Oz had come in they might have brought ideas that could have transformed VA into a next-gen airline.

 

[smit0847]

I agree that JB has done a terrific job but the two companies are still quite different - QF is still much bigger and more international than VA - despite all the route cut-backs QF have done, VA still only have 1.5 long-haul destinations.

I wouldn't be surprised if EY or NZ approach him for a CEO role in the future.....

 

[oz_mark]

It is a fair point - one might argue that having someone from QF at VA has turned VA into a clone of QF. If someone from outside Oz had come in they might have brought ideas that could have transformed VA into a next-gen airline.

Interesting comment, given how many of the gripes about virgin are in the areas they do differently to qantas.

 

[simongr]

They might do some things differently but in essence they are a full service airline with a heavy domestic presence. They both have substantial loyalty programs.

 

[yohy?!]

I'm sure I have read that JB also wanted to re-hub QFi - only his version was I believe to use 777LRs out of PER that could non-stop to LHR

 

[casanovawa]

Yep, both different airlines at different stages of maturity and on different trajectories...

But without detailed knowledge of JB, he seems like a CEO more in the image of SRB, aspirational and uplifting and encouraging... I really couldn't see SRB coming into Qantas and even with the probelms AJ has had, going around talking down the airline continuously in what must be somewhat poison for morale and staff satisfaction... So no wonder SRB is a bit more keen on JB...

Someone else could have come in and taken over Virgin Blue and turned them into RyanAir or EasyJet as well..

 

[simongr]

Someone else could have come in and taken over Virgin Blue and turned them into RyanAir or EasyJet as well..

Or JQ if AJ had gone there and JB had gone to QF...

 

[moa999]

Much easier to look good taking
a LCC with a low cost base into a near full service airline with a moderate cost base

versus taking
a full service airline with a really high cost base and trying to lower it whilst not cutting services

I also think that a lot of the QF agenda is set by the board, so personally don't see much difference in the outcomes.

 

[Paddy55]

I'm sure I have read that JB also wanted to re-hub QFi - only his version was I believe to use 777LRs out of PER that could non-stop to LHR

Might have made Perth and Adelaide folks feel that QF was a little less SYD/MEL centric

 

[777]

I also think that a lot of the QF agenda is set by the board, so personally don't see much difference in the outcomes.

That's the point. The board chose AJ over JB because his direction aligned with theirs. They got what they wanted but over the ensuing years the value of the company has collapsed. Whether JB could have done more or less is an interesting debate but fundamentally shareholder value has tanked since AJ has been on board and they've been losing customers.

JB may Or may not have done better but AJ has set the bar VERY low. It's worth noting that after years of perusing nonsense plans and dead ends for carriers in Asia the only move AJ has earned any credit for is a direct copy of one of the first moves JB made at VA - a deep tie up with a middle eastern carrier to solve the Europe connection problem.

Ironic ain't it?

 

[mannej]

Correct me if I'm wrong, weren't EY's original ties with QF rather than VA?

 

[oz_mark]

Correct me if I'm wrong, weren't EY's original ties with QF rather than VA?

Yes, and I imagine that if JB has got the role, they would have strengthened that.

 

[mannej]

What is also funny DJ had links to EK!