CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN VIRGIN AUSTRALIA

QUESTION

Virgin Blue unveils more changes

New uniforms, a new business class product and new airport lounges are among some of the
initiatives Virgin Blue Holdings has unveiled as part of its bid to lure more corporate
travellers.
The airline group has flagged more changes to come over the year to December 31, 2011,
including a new marketing campaign, new product across the fleet and a revamped Velocity
frequent flyer program.
Virgin Blue has roughly 10 per cent of the business market and hopes to double that share
over the period ahead to reduce its reliance on leisure travellers.

Chief executive John Borghetti says solid progress is being made to build Virgin Blue’s share.
Moreover, recent weak consumer sentiment and uncertainty in the economic outlook
validated the airline’s strategy to reposition itself as a viable and attractive option for
corporate flyers.
Among the things announced on Wednesday, Mr Borghetti confirmed the first routes for
Virgin Blue’s widebody Airbus A330 aircraft would be between Sydney and Perth, with
services to start in May.
The aircraft would feature a new business class cabin and a “superior economy class”, the
airline said.
“With our competitive pricing strategy, we believe this will be a compelling proposition for
corporate travellers, whether they travel in business or economy class,” Mr Borghetti said.
Virgin Blue revealed its choice of turboprop aircraft for the partnership with Skywest to fly to
regional routes, announced last month, was the 68-seat ATR-500 and ATR-600 turboprop
aircraft.
The airline also unveiled new uniforms for cabin crew and staff on Wednesday, and said it
would open a lounge at Coolangatta airport by June 30 this year.
A further two lounges would be added by the end of the year.
Business class would be rolled out across the domestic fleet by December 31, Virgin Blue
said.
The new uniform for cabin crew and ground staff, designed by Project Runway winner Juli
Grbac, were shown off at a fashion show at a Sydney CBD shopping centre featuring
supermodel Elle Macpherson.
Mr Borghetti said the company was on track to strengthen its position in both the leisure and
corporate market in 2011/12, with the full implementation of all the new initiatives to be
rolled out by the end of the year.
Virgin Blue on Wednesday reported a 62 per cent decline in first half net profit to $23.8
million, which was at the lower end of company guidance and below market forecasts.

Source: Chong, J 2011, ‘Virgin Blue unveils more changes’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 23
February, first edition, viewed 31 January 2012, http://smh.com.au

By admin in Essays on July 29, 2016