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Sir Richard Branson has called for Government assistance to save his Virgin airlines, while warning of the repercussions should Virgin Australia collapse.
Key points:
- Sir Richard Branson says Virgin Australia is fighting to survive, and its demise would give Qantas "a monopoly of the Australian skies"
- He suggested his private island could be used as collateral for a government loan
- Sir Richard refuted claims he should be providing more of his own finance to Virgin airlines saying his wealth "is not sitting as cash in a bank account:
Virgin Australia is on the brink of entering voluntary administration with requests for a $1.4 billion bailout from the Federal Government unlikely to be granted, while Virgin Atlantic faces a similarly uncertain future.
In an open letter to Virgin employees, Sir Richard said Virgin Atlantic "will need government support" to keep the airline going "in the face of the severe uncertainty surrounding travel today and not knowing how long the planes will be grounded for".
Sir Richard also made specific mention of Virgin Australia, which he said is "fighting to survive".
"We are hopeful that Virgin Australia can emerge stronger than ever, as a more sustainable, financially viable airline," he said.
"If Virgin Australia disappears, Qantas would effectively have a monopoly of the Australian skies.
"We all know what that would lead to."
He thanked Virgin Atlantic employees who have taken a wage reduction for eight weeks, and went so far as to suggest his own private island in the British Virgin Islands could be used as collateral for a UK Government bailout.
"The rest of the island is run as a business, which employs 175 people," he said.
"As with other Virgin assets, our team will raise as much money against the island as possible to save as many jobs as possible around the [Virgin] Group."
Sir Richard faced criticism in the UK for his earlier requests for Government assistance from a number of politicians, including deputy Labor leader Angela Rayner, who tweeted "Richard flog your private island and pay your staff, we are in unprecedented times here".
And while some have questioned why Sir Richard has not come to Virgin Australia's assistance out of his own pocket, he noted in the letter that most of his wealth is "calculated on the value of Virgin businesses around the world".
"[It is] not sitting as cash in a bank account ready to withdraw," he said.
Sir Richard said the coronavirus pandemic was "the most challenging time" he had ever faced during his 50 years in business.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, air-transport, company-news, travel-and-tourism, tourism, covid-19, regulation, federal-government, government-and-politics, australia
First posted