Virgin announces Jayne Hrdlicka’s replacement as half-year results are revealed

A top Virgin executive will take over from Jayne Hrdlicka as boss of Australia’s second-largest airline, concluding a succession plan complicated by the intervention of its union.

Virgin executive Dave Emerson will take over from Jayne Hrdlicka as boss of Australia’s second-largest airline, concluding a succession plan complicated by the intervention of its union, which toppled first choice Paul Jones.

The announcement came as Ms Hrdlicka told staff the airline, which is owned by private equity group Bain Capital, recorded half-year underlying earnings of $439m off $3bn in revenue, in what is her last result as head of Virgin.

In the previous corresponding period, Virgin reported a half-year profit of “roughly $236m” from $2.8bn in revenue.

In a separate statement, the board of Virgin said chief commercial officer Mr Emerson would formally assume the role of chief executive from March 14.

“Ms Hrdlicka will continue to support the transition as needed over the next few months,” said the statement.

Like Ms Hrdlicka, Mr Emerson grew up in the US, studying arts, communication and media at Stanford University before completing an MBA at University of Chicago Booth Business School.

His first job out of college was with America West Airlines, and he was a senior partner at Bain & Co before his appointment to Virgin in 2021.

He said he was “humbled by the opportunity to lead the airline and its 8000-strong team on its next exciting chapter”.

“I have experienced first-hand the remarkable journey over the past four years as we have reinvented Virgin Australia,” Mr Emerson said.

“We exist for our customers, but it is our people who are the heart of this organisation. They are central to our brand and our key differentiator in the highly competitive Australian aviation landscape.”

Chairman Ryan Cotton said it was clear Mr Emerson was the right person to continue the implementation of Virgin’s strategy, which was expected to include an IPO before year’s end.

“Detailed plans are in place which will deliver continued growth, strong business performance, and continuity of strategy, further enhancing Virgin Australia’s competitive position in the Australian market,” Mr Cotton said.

“Dave also appreciates what is special about Virgin Australia – our team and our people – and will continue to act as a steward of our amazing culture. We are confident Dave will not miss a beat in leading continued strong performance and growth across our business.”

Ms Hrdlicka said Mr Emerson was “an excellent choice” to succeed her as CEO.

“He has proven himself as a strong leader and has been a key contributor to Virgin Australia’s successful transformation journey,” she said.

“His breadth of experience will be invaluable to the company, and he brings the added advantage of being part of the team that created our blueprint for continued improvement in both profitability and growth.”

Virgin’s chief customer and digital officer, Mr Jones, was the previous frontrunner for the job but withdrew after union and government pressure.

The Transport Workers Union and Employment Minister Murray Watt both raised concerns about Mr Jones’ involvement in the Qantas unlawful outsourcing scandal in 2020.

At the time, Mr Jones was employed by Qantas, and was found by the Federal Court to have been partly motivated by unlawful reasons when he recommended the outsourcing of ground operations.

The TWU threatened to pull its support for Virgin’s partnership with Qatar Airways if Mr Jones was appointed CEO, and Senator Watt also warned against his promotion.

On Wednesday, the TWU was quick to seek a meeting with Mr Emerson amid concerns around the recently approved sale of a 25 per cent stake to Qatar Airways and the possibility of an IPO.

Union secretary Michael Kaine said Mr Emerson must make it clear Virgin’s people were a priority going forward.

“Our door is open for the new CEO to meet with worker representatives to establish a long-term plan for the airline that would treat skilled and experienced workers as an essential investment, and build and maintain Virgin as a strong airline into the future,” Mr Kaine said.

Virgin Australia has benefited from the demise of Rex, picking up more customers as well as more Boeing 737 aircraft. Picture: Dylan Robinson/NCA NewsWire

There was no mention of the CEO announcement in a note to staff from Ms Hrdlicka, outlining the airline’s “strong performance” in the first half of the 2025 financial year.

She said the result represented a margin of 14.4 per cent, up 2.3 per cent on last year’s first half, and illustrated a “strong performance across all parts of the business”.

“No matter where you are in the business, you have all helped to achieve this strong position,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“Each of you knows the important role you play in delivering our strategy and making our business successful, and you are leaning in to make a huge difference every day.”

Ms Hrdlicka also spoke about the “critical role” operational performance had in the delivery of the results, after Virgin moved past Qantas in terms of reliability in recent months.

She went on to list the airline’s other achievements and milestones in the first half of the 2025 financial year, including record passengers across the summer peak, the ongoing fleet reconfiguration, continued growth in the Velocity frequent flyer program with more than 13 million members, and an order for new Embraer E190 jets for the Western Australia-based regional business.

“As we move into the second half of the year, it’s never been a more exciting time for us as an airline,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka is set to transition from the top job, more than a year after her departure was announced. Picture: Tertius Pickard

Last week, Qantas announced a $1.39bn half-year profit, its second-best result for the six months to December on record.

Both airlines have benefited from the demise of Rex’s jet operations in late July, with Virgin adding several Boeing 737s to its fleet, providing a much-needed boost to capacity.

The sale of a 25 per cent stake in Virgin to Qatar Airways was approved by Jim Chalmers last week, in what was expected to help the smaller carrier compete more evenly with Qantas.

In a further win, the International Air Services Commission on Wednesday gave its blessing to the new flights from Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Melbourne to Doha.

Final approval for wet lease flights from Australia’s major ports to Doha was expected to be delivered by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in the next month.

The services, to be flown by Qatar Airways’ 777s and crew, were due to start from mid-June, with Ms Hrdlicka revealing Virgin had already sold more than 50,000 seats.

Originally published as Virgin announces Jayne Hrdlicka’s replacement as half-year results are revealed