Hrdlicka Is leaving VA: where is VA heading with Bain and the next owner(s), and what does it mean for travellers in the meantime?

So JH has finally announced her departure, which has always been anticipated by some as a matter of (recent) time.

Now that she has got VA in its first year of profit in a decade, with plenty of connection with hotel chain and other airlines, the airline looks good on the books for the eventual sale by Bain.

Given the recent aborted attempt to sell VA in 2023, the question is whether not having JH at the helm in the interim put VA at risk of downward slide back (while a temp sits at her chair in the “search” for a new CEO) or does it actually make it more attractive for a single buyer to purchase and install their own CEO?

For travellers we have seen interesting new promotion and variants (like bonus status for a March flights, not the usual double status offer, and now double points until April) to sell more tickets in the short term so maybe we are looking for a official relaunch in Bain’s attempt to finally cash in their coup purchase in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic (and lockdown-lockout measures). So are we looking at more interesting promotion and loyalty programs perks or actually quietly cutting down the expenses to make the books look a bit better?

Playing 'Armchair Airline Executive' is a tired old game and a complete waste of time.

sunny by name, sunny by nature :P

If you are really interested, I suggest you read the AFR op-ed on her departure.

Nonsensical by name, insubstantial in response :P :P

Good tip. Didn't realise they wrote the article on the day. Thanks

Good catch. djtech.

Behind a paywall, but I presume similar to the 'Australian' article basically suggesting a "push" ?

The Oz tackles the story from a few different directions. If sufficiently interested, all the answers are covered by The Oz. Some readers comments there are also very interesting. AFR . . . not so much.

Thanks for flagging it. I agree the interesting take partly with allegedly inside information of how the news was broken to her. “ She did not see it coming at all, and nor did those around her.”

Based on The Australian article's reason behind her departure, it would mean the IPO may not be the option and Bain may want to improve airline performance which is a win for pax (particularly on time and cancellation rates) before they try a trade sale