Tag Archives for virgin australia.
She insisted on keeping the fanny pack on her lap rather than placing it under the seat in front of her or in the overhead bin.
Fijian authorities have launched a formal investigation into an alleged theft and serious sexual assault involving three Virgin Australia crew members who were on layover in Nadi. The incident reportedly took place on Tuesday evening after the crew visited a nightclub in the Martintar area.
Qatar Airways will take a 25% stake in Virgin Australia as Bain Capital plans an IPO for Australia’s number two carrier.
Virgin Australia flight attendant, Dylan Macnish, has to be reinstated after an Australian employment tribunal ruled that his dismissal in February 2024 was unfair. Among other things, he admits to drinking alcohol within 8 hours of working a flight.
On the outbound we flew economy. There were no business seats available, and no extra legroom coach either. It was peak season and flights were full, as many flights within Australia have been since travel re-commenced.
For this flight we’d be in Virgin Australia business, which was about $100 more than economy for the three hour flight.
We got to Cairns safely, only about 25 minutes late, so the trip was fine – just a lot more like Spirit before Spirit improved than the last time I flew Virgin Australia in economy.
A Melbourne-based couple traveling on Virgin Australia couldn’t get seats next to each other in business class when they booked. Virgin’s Boeing 737 premium cabin has just two rows up front.
So they took a window seat and an aisle seat on the other side of the aircraft, and tried to switch with another passenger when they boarded.
Virgin Australia went through bankruptcy during Covid. Under new Bain Capital management they hired the former head of Qantas’ Jetstar, who had just accepted a senior job with Qantas Frequent Flyer, to run their Velocity Frequent Flyer program. And Qantas tried to have him jailed.
Australian labor law is insane. The government has ordered Virgin Australia to reinstate a flight attendant who was fired for napping on the job; watching a movie inflight; showing up late to work and violating uniform standards; and taking food meant for passengers. According to the government the decision to fire her was “harsh, unjust and unreasonable.”
So what does it actually take to get fired from an airline in Australia?
Normally I’d be inclined to pick up Qantas tickets in coach for the short 1 hour 20 minute flight, using my American AAdvantage status for priority check-in and boarding, lounge and extra baggage. But those were pricing at around $300 in economy for the one way trip while Virgin Australia was asking $200 for business class.
And I was really curious to see what Virgin Australia was like after having been acquired out of bankruptcy (“administration”) by private equity.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
