Virgin Australia staff struggle to deal with collapse
Tears have been replaced by fears for flight attendant Becky Branca following the collapse of Virgin. Now the Melbourne mum of two and her 10,000 colleagues are pleading for Aussies to help the airline fly into the future.
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Flight attendant Becky Branca says Virgin Australia’s collapse is like having her family ripped away.
The business-class international flight attendant has been working at Virgin Australia for 17 years.
The single Berwick mum-of-two said she had “a secret cry” after being told Virgin, where she has worked since she was 19, was going into voluntary administration.
“Virgin has been my life,” she said.
“They have always treated staff like you are part of a family, not just a number.”
The 36-year-old said her bosses gave her extended leave after her Melbourne Fire Brigade father committed suicide four years ago.
“They have helped me through my dad’s death, divorce, they gave me extra time when I went on maternity leave and when I found out my son had a brain disorder,” she said.
Ms Branca, who also appears on Channel 10 documentary series, Behind the Sash, says Australia needs to get behind Virgin.
“At the end of the day it’s in the entire country’s best interest for Australia to keep us flying,” she said.
Ms Branca is homeschooling her two children, Izabella, 9 and Dominic, 7, and trying to remain upbeat and keep her colleagues’ spirits up, creating a singing and dancing TikTok video.
The video has a crew of Virgin Australia flight attendants and pilots and has had more than 50,000 hits.
When Ann Abdelmessih heard the news about Virgin, she felt shock, sadness and fear.
“I have three boys at home and I do have a mortgage and I do have bills,” Ms Abdelmessih said.
“I don’t want to lose the roof over my head. I want to be able to support my boys,”
She wondered if she had put her Virgin uniform on for the last time.
Carly Matthews has worked as a cabin crew international team member for 10 years and said it was hard to describe the feeling of uncertainty hanging over her.
She hadn’t thought much about what would happen if Virgin couldn’t be saved.
“It’s crossed my mind, I don’t want to go into it with wool over my eyes but Virgin is my heart and soul,” she said.
“It’s been so many years I couldn’t imagine life without Virgin.”
Darren Hay, who had children Farrah, 5, and Braxton, 2 with him at Melbourne Airport on Tuesday, was trying to stay positive.
The international cabin crew leader hoped Virgin could stay in the air.
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VIRGIN AUSTRALIA IN ADMINISTRATION