What is Virgin Australia's strategy (post-administration)?

[Saab34]

I have seen a waterfall like curtain on a US carrier, I forget which one. It’s no purple divider, but I guess it does the job.

I assume CASA is talking a million years to sign it off.

 

[PineappleSkip]

divider which will be attached to the ceiling behind row 2 in the year 3000

In the year 3000 I’d expect a forcefield divider which, if PAX walk through from economy, teleports them to outside the rear toilets where they deserve to be.

 

[jakeseven7]

In the year 3000 I’d expect a forcefield divider which, if PAX walk through from economy, teleports them to outside the rear toilets where they deserve to be.

This of course will be on VA version 98 or so given their propensity to collapse periodically . Maybe in the year 3000 they will have joined star alliance

 

[AIRwin]

In the year 3000 I’d expect a forcefield divider which, if PAX walk through from economy, teleports them to outside the rear toilets where they deserve to be.

I'd opt to teleport myself directly to my destination:

Would you teleport to your destination if the option was available?

This is purely a hypothetical question... If you could skip the whole flight & airport experience and simply teleport to your destination for the cost of a flexible Premium Economy airfare, would you do it? Or would you prefer to spend hours waiting at the airport and sitting on the plane...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[HS-TQE]

This of course will be on VA version 98 or so given their propensity to collapse periodically . Maybe in the year 3000 they will have joined star alliance

And by 2999 SQ will have "taeken ovah" VA by then

 

[twinaisle]

And by 2999 SQ will have "taeken ovah" VA by then

Guess they won't be a Virgin by then

 

[RooFlyer]

This time last year, a number of posters (with their insiders) and their fans were predicting/insisting that "VA will be listed in 2023!" only to back peddle when issues within Bain's control (on top of the issues outside of their control) started bubbling to the surface, and was pretty much inflicted by Bain themselves.

I think we can discount our 'winking', "its all on the public record" insider. Doubt they've ever seen an IPO. (For the record, I took the company I was CEO of through an IPO and ASX listing; Lehman Brothers went under two weeks before our close. Interesting times )

However as reported by other posters, the IPO markets are currently (close to if not) dead. However if (at all) any roadshow it'll be late Q2 with a predicted listing by Q1 2025.

Don't be entranced by 'roadshows'. Main function is to shore up the secondary (post listing) market. If the equity markets remain closed, Bain could either hang on if it still making decent, if not big money or just jettison the whole lot to one of the usual suspects, with some sort of profitability claw-back.

 

[HS-TQE]

The usual suspects would have to be an 'desperate' kind of mode to acquire VA in full, and I can't see that happening.

The known two suspects in questions may have articles recurring in the media from time to time. The earlier suspect ended up being a 'recurring' joke in the (social) media and the later suspect, as we know has bilateral issues with the government which had to led to media speculation about their interest in a stake in VA.

 

[Saab34]

I think it’s in Virgin’s best interests that another airline especially those ‘from the past’ are not involved. They need someone that is genuinely interested in the long term viability and sustainability of the business.

Qatar’s interests are to please itself and network. Not Virgin. Keep them away.

 

[RooFlyer]

I think it’s in Virgin’s best interests that another airline especially those ‘from the past’ are not involved. They need someone that is genuinely interested in the long term viability and sustainability of the business.

Qatar’s interests are to please itself and network. Not Virgin. Keep them away.

I agree with the sentiment, but if Bain do need or want an exit in the absence of an IPO, they will just put the airline on the block for a price (or maybe a silent auction). then unfortunately they won't mind very much what happens to the airline after that.

As for Qatar they (at least under the last CEO) take pride in offering an outstanding product all round, so if they did become full owner, I don't think they'd let Virgin wither on the vine. They could make Virgin their springboard into (and across?) the Pacific. Ambitious sure (and unlikely on balance), but they do want growth and this would make them a 'global' airline.

Can anyone remember what strings Branson has with the airline? What survived the administration? Fee for using the name ... anything else?

 

[ben95]

Fee for using the name ... anything else?

He purchased a 5% stake from Bain in 2020 after the company emerged from administration so he still has skin in this game albeit a smaller one.

 

[Saab34]

Would be interesting to see the terms connected to that 5%, highly skewed in Bain’s way no doubt.

Alaska had to pay Virgin $8m per year for the brand, that deal went for another 20 years. I don’t think Bain would be too keen on paying anything. That whole Alaska/Virgin deal got messy as Alaska stopping paying and refused, court sided with Virgin and awarded them the whole term royalties.

Bain could have cut the VA name loose and just run with V Australia. Branson and his 5% would indicate he still wants his $$$ over the long term.

 

[dk4]

Branson and his 5% would indicate he still wants his $$$ over the long term.

Perhaps more than any direct dollars, he needs flying billboards zooming around the sky? "Virgin Australia" being the local halo brand, which enables him to on sell/license the "Virgin" brand to franchises in other industries, where using that name can help cut through congested markets for new entrants.

 

[Saab34]

The Australian reported back in 2020 that Bain was not willing to give Branson much of a stake, and the royalty fees was to be renegotiated. Was pretty clear while they didn’t want much to do with him, they also faced the issue of rebranding costs.

Apparently the fee was $15m/year according to Newscorp. That was for 144 aircraft, so you could assume that has been pulled back a bit.

 

[Must...Fly!]

It seems pretty reasonable, when you consider the general popularity of the Virgin brand.

 

[HS-TQE]

Would be interesting to see the terms connected to that 5%, highly skewed in Bain’s way no doubt.

Alaska had to pay Virgin $8m per year for the brand, that deal went for another 20 years. I don’t think Bain would be too keen on paying anything. That whole Alaska/Virgin deal got messy as Alaska stopping paying and refused, court sided with Virgin and awarded them the whole term royalties.

Bain could have cut the VA name loose and just run with V Australia. Branson and his 5% would indicate he still wants his $$$ over the long term.

Bain could've easily just used the Velocity brand for the airline. Sure it may mean repainting and removing references to Virgin everywhere, but it would make it easier for FF identification for partner airlines as an (non)-Alliance independent.

In addition, Velocity was the only arm of Virgin Australia Holdings that made consistent profits throughout VAH 1.0's reign. Whereas Domestic (whilst it did make profits) had profit downturns over its time as JB/Etihad's Hogan/Singapore/et al's mess started bubbling to the surface.

 

[ben95]

Was pretty clear while they didn’t want much to do with him, they also faced the issue of rebranding costs.

What would Bain rebrand the airline to though if it wanted? Velocity Airlines maybe but still it’s nowhere near a household name like Virgin.

Alaska itself is a well-established reputable brand in the US so it would make sense for them to cut the Virgin brand.

 

[twinaisle]

What would Bain rebrand the airline to though if it wanted?

Not a virgin airlines.

 

[33kft]

Not a virgin airlines.

My first thought was put a line through Virgin so it just reads Australia Airlines and a cheeky slogan like "our airline has grown up" but that is almost certainly why I don't get asked about marketing strategy

 

[Saab34]

V Australia was a name that was pushed around but it might have already been tied to the Virgin group