Pets cleared for Virgin take-off; Alcohol body’s got the hiccups

Small dogs and cats might soon be sharing the best seats aboard Virgin Australia flights.

Jayne Hrdlicka announced her very abrupt retirement as Virgin CEO last month, and so naturally every public utterance she makes henceforth will be geared towards shaping a legacy – or so we suspect.

And what better way to win over an Australian public already tormented by awful customer service and exorbitant fees than to throw them a bone, so to speak – not with news of a fresh aircraft or an exotic new route, but with an almighty marketing blitz on behalf of our animal friends.

Margin Call has learned that Hrdlicka is on the verge of a significant policy revision on the small matter of dogs and cats, with the airline set to be the first in Australia to let pets ride shotgun actually inside the cabin on domestic flights. International’s still out, sadly, owing to the quarantine requirements.

“We’ll politely decline to comment on this occasion,” a Virgin spokeswoman said, when Margin Call made inquiries on Wednesday evening.

Virgin Australia wants to become the country’s first airline to operate domestic flights with pets in the cabin from next year. Virgin Australia team members with cavoodle Henri. Picture: Alex Coppel

But in a statement to Herald Sun, Ms Hrdlicka said: “Our love for animals has always been in the Virgin Australia DNA and we’re excited at the prospect of taking off with Australia’s first-ever pets in cabin flights.”

“Our guests tell us they want to travel with their pets, and we are now on a journey to make that a reality. It’s something that commonly happens overseas and is proven to work well,” Ms Hrdlicka said. Under the proposed plans, the service will be restricted to small cats and dogs and only on specific domestic routes.

Not that this comes entirely out of the blue. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority announced all the way back in 2021 that animals were fine to start travelling with passengers in the aircraft cabin. It’s been the carriers pushing back since. Documented grouches Alan Joyce and Gareth Evans, at Qantas and Jetstar, respectively, opposed the change, but Virgin and Rex were open-minded.

Virgin Australia Jayne Hrdlicka is likely to make some dog and cat owners happy, but perhaps others not so. Picture: Brendan Radke

Virgin even polled its customers that year to gauge their support. Of the 351,000 respon­dents, 68 per cent voted yes. The question now is whether a fee will be attached, and we can only presume that’s going to be a hard yes, as Rex’s deputy chairman John Sharp suggested at the time. And surely Rex jumps on the trolley from here, too, no?

“If people are prepared to pay, I’m sure it will happen eventually,” he said in 2021. In other words, yes, if we can make money out of it, fine, we’ll do it.

But for anyone concerned, we seriously doubt they’ll find themselves sitting next to a slobbering St Bernard. More like a dainty poodle, at best. Hard to go past the fact this will benefit Hrdlicka, too, just as she departs the airline – she owns a few hounds herself.

Mixing drinks

Industry lobby group Alcohol Beverages Australia has fallen off the wagon again, even after a sobering period of attempted renewal these past 18 months.

Dysfunction was rife at the ABA towards the end of 2021. Critical members Coles, Endeavour and Asahi dropped their membership only to reconsider and give the ABA one more chance. That was on a promise from the association that it would shake up its board and reset the organisation and basically stop being an embarrassment. Diageo left last year, too (for the same reasons, and for real) but they’re still listed on the ABA website, confusingly.

Adele Young was appointed executive director during this transitional period, beating out former ACT Liberal leader Alistair Coe to the role. And look at him now! Coe went on to work for David Gazard and the chaps at DPG Advisory, but we hear his services might be needed back at the ABA soon, if he can be bothered. Knowing how desperate they are he could probably shake them down for a massive bump in coin.

Alcohol Beverages Australia’s Adele Young. Picture: Evan Morgan

So what’s gone wrong? A few things. First, the ABA has lost another critical member in Retail Drinks Australia, representing outfits such as Endeavour and Coles on the executive committee, with CEO Michael Waters signalling their intention to step away. The RDA’s still sitting there for the moment but basically serving out a 12-month notice period, so you won’t hear it slag off the ABA or its board (at least publicly) for a little while longer.

But even more serious is that Young, the ABA’s executive director, is said to be no longer providing her services to the lobby group, as of Monday, having served just 18 months in the role. No response from the ABA when we contacted, to be sure.

The question now is who might be brought in to replace her. On Wednesday the ABA held an extraordinary general meeting to consider that, with much discussion over whether its people could go back on bended knee to their No.2 man – Coe – and offer it to him.

Tough gig, too, by all accounts. There’s the brewers pulling in one direction and the liquor and vino mob pulling in the other. What’s that old saying? Beer before wine and you’ll feel fine? Not with the ABA. Everyone joining this party mix seems to be left reeling with a hangover.

A Fin oversight

Former Chanticleer columnist and Fin Review contributor Tony Boyd wrote a lengthy piece last month about chipmaker Nvidia and its soaring market cap, asking whether or not the company will be able to double its revenue three years running. No harm in asking, of course, or with the analysts consulted for the story – well, maybe one.

Alex Pollak, chief investment officer at Loftus Peak, was given some valuable real estate to talk up Nvidia’s lead against competitor SoftBank. Pollak runs the Loftus Peak Global Disruption Fund, which owns shares in Nvidia, so that’s reason enough to include his perspective.

Not mentioned at the time, however, was Boyd’s very own interest in the Global Disruption Fund, a harmless mistake, we’re sure, but still a bit loose for a venerated pro.

“Yes, I have units in the Global Disruption Fund,” he told us, adding that this had been disclosed “many times before” in the AFR.

“My oversight.”

Naughty!

The article was swiftly updated with a disclosure.