Virgin Blue’s Brett Godfrey Sets Agenda on Regulatory Challenges

Virgin Blue’s CEO, Brett Godfrey packed in some powerful messages at the Routes Asia Strategy Forum; one of his final speeches before he voluntarily steps down from the airline that he established ten years ago.

“America’s chapter 11 laws creates false economies and distorts competition; it’s nothing short of a tax-funded charity programme,” he said, acknowledging that American Airlines has been the only major US carrier not to end up in credit protection. V Australia faces challenges on these grounds, he said.

While in the Australian domestic market, de-regulation and the ensuing carrier competition has kept the industry thriving, he explained.

“Virgin Blue came in ten years ago with $99 fares for east coast [Australian] routes and the consumers can still find these fares today, despite inflation growth, the quadrupling of fuel to $80 a barrel today and security increases. Even with these constant shocks and external cost pressures, Virgin Blue is around 20% cheaper than our competitors in the markets we fly,” he claimed, but said that he believes V Australia will become more profitable than Virgin Blue.

Just days away from his departure (Qantas Veteran John Borghetti will take over as CEO), Godfrey had plenty to say about his vision for the industry in the next five years.

“The internet will be on board all of our domestic fleet, biofuels will be an established market and we need to be at the forefront of it; the industry has not done enough here. I also think that Virgin Blue will represent 50% of the Australian market.”

He finished off with a light-hearted joke to remind delagtes of the unpredictable nature of the aviation business: “Virgin Blue could well buy Qantas and compete against Star Alliance!”

Reporter: Louise Driscoll, Adelaide