Qantas and Virgin declare truce over man who knew too much

The airlines have ended their legal battle over the man who knew too much – Velocity chief executive Nick Rohrlach

Qantas and Virgin Australia have officially ended their court battle over Velocity CEO Nick Rohrlach. Picture: Britta Campion.

Qantas and Virgin Australia have ended their legal fight over the man who knew too much – Velocity CEO Nick Rohrlach.

After returning to court in Singapore last month, it was on Friday agreed the matter would not be pursued further, with both parties to pay their own costs.

Mr Rohrlach was at the centre of a court battle over his contractual obligations to Qantas after leaving the flying kangaroo to work for Virgin in late 2020.

The issue was a non-compete clause that Qantas said prevented him from starting his role with Virgin Australia for ten months.

Mr Rohrlach claimed the contract conditions were not legally binding and he should be free to start with Virgin after six months of “gardening leave”.

Qantas argued Mr Rohrlach – who was the Jetstar Japan chief executive – had accepted a senior role with its own loyalty business and was given access to commercially sensitive information before he was named the new boss of Velocity.

The matter ended up in the Singapore Supreme Court, where Qantas won an injunction preventing Mr Rohrlach from starting with Virgin in May 2021 until they went to trial.

The court then heard Mr Rohrlach had breached the terms of the injunction by getting involved in Virgin Australia’s business before the non-compete clause expired.

Phone and online messages between Mr Rohrlach, Virgin chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka and other senior executives were tendered to the court as evidence of these breaches. In December 2021, the court found in favour of Qantas – which sought a jail sentence as penalty for Mr Rohrlach’s breaches. He was fined $S25,000 ($27,000).

Although Mr Rohrlach was able to start work for Virgin in September, the original court case – over the legality of Qantas’s employment contract conditions remained unresolved.

The matter returned to court in Singapore last month with both sides facing the prospect of another potentially lengthy and costly trial.

Given Mr Rohrlach had been working for Virgin for just over a year, it was agreed with Qantas that the case should not be pursued further.

A statement from Virgin Australia said “importantly, the settlement has the parties paying their own costs and no payment of any damages”.

A Qantas spokesman said it was unfortunate they had to go to court to enforce “a fairly basic clause in a contract”.

“But the restraint period was effectively served through the process not withstanding the fact Mr Rohrlach was found in contempt of court during that time,” he said.

The Virgin Australia spokeswoman said they were delighted to have Mr Rohrlach on their team.

“Nick is a valued member of Virgin Australia and is playing a critical role in our transformation,” said a spokeswoman. “Since joining as CEO of Velocity frequent flyer, our loyalty program has gone strength to strength. Its membership has grown to close to 11 million.”

The case highlighted the fierce competition between the airline’s loyalty programs which generated significant revenue through points earned and redeemed by members.