How Dave Emerson turned a childhood dream into reality as new Virgin Australia CEO

Dave Emerson’s promotion to Virgin Australia CEO is the realisation of a childhood dream born from long haul bus trips across the US.

As the son of a long distance bus company worker in Phoenix, Arizona, Dave Emerson often wished his father worked for an airline instead.

The new Virgin Australia CEO spent many hours crisscrossing the US by bus while dreaming of a world where air travel was accessible to everyone.

It is perhaps no surprise then that his childhood dream saw him take a job at America West Airlines out of college, before moving to consulting firm Bain & Co in Dallas to support large-scale airline transformations worldwide.

In 2020, Emerson’s career brought him to Australia to advise on the transformation of Virgin following the airline’s rescue from administration by Bain Capital.

A year later he was appointed chief commercial officer of Virgin under his former Bain & Co colleague Jayne Hrdlicka; prompting the relocation of his family including wife Kristin and their four sons from Dallas to Brisbane.

From next Friday, Emerson will replace Hrdlicka whose official final day is Thursday, closing the curtains on an eventful 4¼ years in the top job.

“I’m really looking forward to taking a break,” Hrdlicka told The Australian after getting government approval for the sale of a 25 per cent stake in Virgin to Qatar Airways. “I’ve got my youngest son in year 12, and for year 12 parents it’s a tough challenge and so I’m looking forward to being able to support him a little bit better over the course of the year.”

New Virgin CEO Dave Emerson. Picture: Dallas Kilponen

For Emerson it will be straight down to business, with the new CEO’s diary already filled with a round of meetings to introduce himself to major stakeholders such as government leaders, bureaucrats, suppliers, key corporate customers and unions.

As ideal as he might seem for the job, he is not well known in Australia’s aviation industry and it is well documented that chief customer and digital officer Paul Jones was Bain Capital’s first choice, until his withdrawal following union and government pressure.

The Flight Attendants Association of Australia, which represents Virgin’s largest employee group — cabin crew — was looking forward to meeting Emerson following the year-long search for a new CEO.

FAAA national secretary Teri O’Toole said it appeared “odd” to have taken more than a year to replace Hrdlicka with an internal candidate.

“I understand if you’re going for a candidate outside and opening up those doors to the rest of the aviation world, but in any event you would hope they’ve selected the right person,” said O’Toole.

“Virgin have been through a lot in the past years but what we’d like to see is a CEO that comes in and recognises that the biggest asset they have is their staff, the cabin crew who’ve been recognised as the world’s best for many years running now.”

Outgoing Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka with Qatar and Virgin cabin crew in Brisbane. Picture: James D. Morgan/Getty Images

She said the FAAA was disappointed in the public attack on Jones led by the Transport Workers Union over his previous role at Qantas during the unlawful outsourcing debacle. When Jones was named as the frontrunner to replace Hrdlicka the TWU threatened to withdraw its support for the Virgin-Qatar deal, creating a difficult situation for Bain.

“Paul Jones has a lot of experience and we would’ve supported Paul as CEO,” O’Toole said.

Nevertheless, she was hopeful Emerson would prove a supportive and receptive CEO, capable of fostering the same respect as former boss Paul Scurrah.

The Australian Federation of Air Pilots were also looking forward to meeting with Emerson, and “developing a constructive working relationship”. AFAP chief executive Simon Lutton said they were advised of his appointment on the day it was publicly announced, and a meeting agreed to at a date to be confirmed.

Once Emerson was better acquainted with Virgin’s wider network of people, it was expected he would be tasked with leading the airline to an IPO with Qatar Airways as the cornerstone investor.

With two years of solid profits behind them and shares in rival Qantas breaking through the $10 mark, it appeared 2025 would be Virgin’s year to relist on the ASX.

“We’re in great form, we’re performing well across the board and so it will just come down to timing from an investor standpoint,” Hrdlicka said.

Originally published as How Dave Emerson turned a childhood dream into reality as new Virgin Australia CEO