Paul Scurrah pays high price for top role at Virgin

Paul Scurrah’s support for his Virgin Australia employees has made him a popular CEO but not a rich one.

Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah (left) and administrator Vaughan Strawbridge of Deloitte (right rear) with Corporate Affairs manager Danielle Keighery, before addressing media about the airline’s administration. Picture: John Feder

Paul Scurrah’s appointment as Virgin Australia CEO just over a year ago has been a costly move for the former DP World chief executive.

Hired as a replacement for John Borghetti, Mr Scurrah provided an immediate $650,000 saving for the airline, accepting a $1.3m base salary, significantly lower than his predecessor.

The more modest pay packet was seen as an important part of a new beginning under Mr Scurrah, who was charged with turning a “great airline into a great business”, and reversing seven years of losses.

When shareholders at his first AGM for Virgin Australia questioned why he held so few shares in the airlines, Mr Scurrah moved quickly to rectify, spending $196,000 on a parcel of 1.15 million shares.

In March, when Virgin Australia’s shares plunged amid concerns increasing about the airline’s viability, he splashed out another $99,000 on 990,000 more shares, in an apparent vote of confidence in the company.

Mr Scurrah’s investments now seem likely to be lost as administrators appointed to the airline seek to restructure more than $5bn of debt and secure the company’s future.

Far from feeling sorry for himself, on Tuesday Mr Scurrah’s concerns were with his 10,000 employees whom he credited with making Virgin Australia “something worth preserving”.

“The last 24 hours have been incredibly challenging for the wonderful people in the Virgin Australia Group,” he said.

“They are the best in the business and they’re the best at what they do and they deserve to have a very bright future and it’s my intention to ensure we create that.”

He also acknowledged the airline’s shareholders, including Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways, HNA Group and Nanshan for their support over the past decade. “They’ve invested something in the order of $6bn to create an incredible airline, an airline that outperforms its competitor on customer services and on time running and reliability and significantly on culture,” he said.

His commitment to staff, even promising to reinstate any annual leave taken during the current stand down of 8000 workers, has made him a popular CEO.

After an all-staff video address last week at which he outlined the dire circumstances of the company following the suspension of share trading, one employee described his speech “as inspirational”. “You just know that he’s looking out for you,” he said.

Mr Scurrah has admitted the airline was likely to emerge from the crisis “leaner, stronger and fitter”.

“We’re very focused on preserving as many jobs as we can.”