Virgin Australia’s Jayne Hrdlicka lures Qantas COO Paul Jones

Virgin Australia has poached one of Qantas’ most senior executives, in a major win for the smaller airline.

Paul Jones will jump ship from Qantas to Virgin Australia next year, after being given the role of chief customer and digital officer.

Virgin Australia has notched one up on rival Qantas, poaching the senior executive who was overseeing the outsourcing of ground handling operations.

Paul Jones had been with Qantas since 2011, where he held a variety of roles including chief information officer, and executive manager of customer and digital strategy.

He was promoted to the position of chief operating officer in August, where he was responsible for executing Qantas’s plan to outsource 2000 ground handling jobs.

It’s understood he was originally appointed to Qantas by former executive Jayne Hrdlicka, who took over as Virgin Australia CEO last month.

At Virgin Australia, Mr Jones’ title will be chief customer and digital officer.

Ms Hrdlicka said Mr Jones’ deep aviation experience would be an asset to the airline during “a critical period of transformation”.

“I have known Paul for a long time having worked closely with him during my time at Qantas and I am thrilled we’ve been able to attract him to Virgin Australia,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

“Investing in technology and having a laser sharp focus on the customer are two critical pieces of our transformation as we move towards being a mid-market carrier that is Australia’s most loved airline.

“Paul will bring a wealth of knowledge to the executive leadership team at Virgin Australia and we can’t wait to welcome him to the family in 2021.”

The role of chief customer officer was previously held by Danielle Keighery who left Virgin Australia in September, to work for the Bank of Queensland.

Competition between Qantas and Virgin Australia has intensified in recent days, as domestic flights ramp up in response to domestic border closures.

Wednesday’s announcement by Virgin Australia that it will go ahead with a reduced Boeing 737 Max order, will put pressure on Qantas to make a decision on its own domestic fleet renewal.

Virgin Australia will take delivery of the first of 25 brand new Boeing 737 Max 10s from mid-2023, to provide greater operational flexibility and efficiency.

With the capacity for 230 seats, the aircraft are considered ideal for busy domestic routes such as Melbourne-Sydney and Sydney-Brisbane, as well as short haul international such as Auckland and Bali.

Prior to going into administration, Virgin Australia had 48 Boeing 737 Max on order including 23 Max 8s, but has renegotiated the deal with Boeing, in a move likely to save billions of dollars.

Each brand new 737 Max 10 has a shelf price of about $180m, although airlines tend to get a substantial discount.