Virgin Australia board members resign, shuts holiday unit

Virgin Australia Holdings revealed in an Australian Securities Exchange disclosure on October 23 that nine members of its 11-member board had tendered their resignations or indicated they would resign as its voluntary administration period comes to an end and the Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane Int’l) parent finalises its sale to Bain Capital. The resignations, which include chairwoman Elizabeth Bryan, follow news of chief executive Paul Scurrah resigning a few days ago. “Accordingly, so as to ensure that the reconstitution of the board takes effect immediately, the deed administrators have exercised their powers to replace those directors who cease to hold office as a director on today’s date,” the filing said. After administrator Deloitte revealed that Scurrah had resigned, Bain Capital quickly announced a new chief executive, Jayne Hrdlicka. Currently chairwoman and board president of Tennis Australia, Hrdlicka is an American-Australian with a Czech father. She was a senior executive at Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) from 2010 to 2012 and was group chief executive at the flag carrier’s low-cost unit Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) from 2012 until 2018. Bain commented in a statement that Hrdlicka would provide a “different form of leadership to survive.” According to media reports, Scurrah had clashed with the new owner over plans to make it a low-cost carrier. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia has decided to permanently shut down another of its businesses, package tour operator Virgin Australia Holidays. The closure follows the shuttering in September of Tigerair Australia (TT, Melbourne Tullamarine). In an update on the Virgin Australia website, the airline said: “Due to the ongoing impact of covid-19 and travel restrictions, we will be closing the VA Holidays business from 31 October 2020. This includes Mystery Breaks, AFL Travel, Supercars Travel and Tigerair Travels packages.” Launched as Blue Holidays in 2003 by what was then Virgin Blue Airlines, Virgin Australia Holidays offered tour packages including flights and hotels, and customers were able to earn Velocity loyalty points for the packages.