Nick Tsagaris - Virgin Australia Boss John Borghetti To Step Down — In Two Years
Virgin Australia has confirmed its chief executive and managing director John Borghetti is stepping down — in two years.
In a statement to the market, Virgin said Mr Borghetti would not renew his contract when it expires on January 1, 2020.
But he plans to leave before then so the company has "ample time" to recruit a new leader.
"It is a privilege to serve as CEO of the Virgin Australia Group and to lead a wonderful team of 10,000 people," Mr Borghetti said.
"By notifying the board of my intentions now, it provides them with appropriate time to conduct a thorough recruitment process and for me to support the transition."
Mr Borghetti was appointed as Virgin's CEO on May 8, 2010 and, prior to that, was Qantas's executive general manager for six years.
Virgin has had trouble turning a profit in recent years.
It most recently posted a loss of $220 million for the full year ended June 30, 2017 — which is an improvement over its $261 million loss the previous year.
Virgin Australia is about 90 per cent owned by a group of five airlines — Etihad, Singapore, Nanshan, HNA and Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
It also considered de-listing from the ASX to become a private company, but decided against that in February.
Instead, Virgin unveiled a share buyback scheme to get 21,000 small shareholders off its books.
Virgin shares lifted 2.3 per cent to 22 cents at 10:30am (AEST).
By: abc.net.au