John Borghetti resigns from Virgin Australia

AKA slowly wheeled out...

Well overdue. Bring on new leadership.

John Borghetti started out well, but in recent years has lacked any real direction for the airline. Its alliance partnerships are even more haphazard than before, its product offering in economy is uncompetitive (when Qantas serves dinner, Virgin gives you some crackers, and if your flight departs after 7pm, you'll be paying for soft drink, let alone a glass of wine), its frequent flyer program is also now uncompetitive (many more flights needed to get gold or platinum compared to Qantas due to the crappy earn rates on getaway fares, which most travellers book), there are a million rules to follow for international lounge access depending on which airline you fly, where you're going to, which airport you're in and so on: and much of the time there's no lounge you can use at all... the reasons to choose Virgin over Qantas these days are slim, so hopefully a new CEO can transform the airline into something that actually works for travellers!

(Oh yeah, and remember when Virgin spent millions building a new premium entry thing in Brisbane, and then decided to close it for most of the day so that people couldn't actually use it? That was under John's leadership, too...)

Ultimately I see this as the best for Virgin. While they have transformed considerably since Virgin Blue days, things seemed to have stagnated recently and never able to match the product offering of Qantas on things like food/beverages.

Not caring for the kick Borghetti take by many. Under his stewardship Virgin has transformed to a decent competitor to Qantas, that has kept fair competition in the Aus market. Virgin is far from perfect, Like any corporate entity of course, change is good thing and is does feel like VA needs fresh thinking, but Aus flyers have a lot to thank John Borghetti for his stewardship of the company.

About time. Bye John.

While JB has done much for VA in his first few years, his last few years has very much been stagnant in addition to ticking off NZ for numerous reasons.

New blood is definitely required at VA.

I always like reading the arm chair critic comments, maybe we just look at why people like myself know fly Virgin rather then Qantas and how Qantas staff offer incentives to try and get us people back. Those 2000 plus staus credits a year are alot of bucks and flying time.

Took two virgin flights over the weekend, one A330 + B737. Like entering two different worlds, the B737 world is a not a very comfortable place, fresh approach needed asap, hopefully a new ceo will have fresh ideas, (but home safe and sound which i guess is the main thing).

2020? I was so excited when I read the headline but then saw the 2020 date, nothing for shareholders to get excited about here, asleep at the wheel for another 2 years, the board should sack him, insert an interim CEO then source a decent replacement to drive this business.

That's one way for VA to try and get NZ back that I wasn't expecting!

He needs to go now, not in another 18 months. They are going to waste another 18 months while new direction would have been implemented by the new CEO.

It seems poor John is the subject of much criticism over happenings in the last few years. PLEASE, give the bloke a break. He is CEO of a company that has many masters (shareholders) that compete fiercely and have only their own interests at heart. I reckon, all in all, he has done a terrific job in a very difficult industry. Thats not to say I think all is well but being realistic, things are not too bad.

Most commentators on here seem to think his performance is either an A or an F, but I think a solid B is about right.

I smell Star or Skyteam on the horizon... 2021 perhaps?

Given both Joyce and Borghetti took the top job at the same time they are fairly easy to compare in performance.

Finally! About time!

I don't have shares in VA (or QF) so their performance on the ASX means nothing to me. I was elated to see VA go from a LCC to a full-service carrier, and provide real competition to QF.

Good to read some fair and balanced and thoughtful comments and criticism here, reflecting on both the positives and negatives of 'the Borghetti era'.

It is pretty clear not many on here have travelled in the US or Europe domestically of late. You want see average, I challenge you to spend a month schlepping around the US on any of the US3!

Most companies would spread this major transformation / capital outlay over an extended duration (decades) to judge one upstart against the parameters of an established bedded in dominate opposition in all sense of the businesses, that has spread this setup over decades is inappropriate and unfair. If Virgin started with 100% of the market they too would have fantastic fin results. All travellers have benefited from Virgins push upmarket. The service domestic in Australia is fantastic.

I say it's the right time. He's had his time and did lots of great things, but the airline is now a mess with no new aircraft on order and the two other big Oceania airlines teamed up against them.

Back to Virgin Blue I say. If he wanted to compete with QF he should have equalled or bettered what QF was doing-he didn't. You can't compete offering a lesser product. Given he's done an amazing job forcing Qantas to up its game, but with too many chefs in the virgin kitchen JB's hand were always semi-tied. I'm also sure there was a teeny bit of vengeance in his mo which may have influenced some poor decisions too.

Whilst there are a number of air chair CEOs out there, I wonder what may have been different if things had been reversed 8-9 years ago i.e. JB got the top job at QF and AJ took on the VA CEO role. JB got the LCC and transformed it, AJ got 70+ years of history, OW alliance, the national carrier and a carrier that had dominance since the demise of AN.

This certainly didn't go the way JB had planned. When he hired John Thomas to be the CEO of 'Virgin Australia Airlines' the plan was for JT to make his mark on VA and then take over when JB stepped aside, but the melt-down which saw JT turfed out has left the airline without any obvious internal successor except for Merren McArthur who is pretty well regarded as an exec but she will be up against a global search, maybe James Hogan will even toss his hat in to the ring!

I think he has done a good job but new blood is needed now.

Great job John, massive difference from the Virgin Blue to the virgin today. Many great improvements, lounges, getting a drink of water on the plane was a great leap forward. Qantas domestic sets a high bar when compared to US and other places.

I definitely think Qantas have the edge on Virgin Australia at the moment. I hope some new blood will revitalise VA to give Qantas some better competition. I find Qantas to be a lot more flexible than VA in their approach to customer service (particularly for frequent fliers). For example, Qantas will do a status match whereas Velocity will not.

David.

What is it with some on here accusing people of being "armchair CEO's?" Clearly we all fly a lot and have at least a semi valid view point/opinion. It's a FORUM and opinion is what it's all about and also what makes ABT's wheels turn. Relax and let people comment.

How soon before AJ does the same and moves on to give QF a refresh.

As a "non-business" but regular traveler in premium seats status sharing was good but with cancelled flghts etc etc etc moved to QF. Would be happy to return to VA IFF they can get their act together ----- SOON!