John Borghetti to join Virgin Blue as CEO

 Virgin Blue Holdings has appointed John Borghetti as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, effective 8 May 2010. Current Virgin Blue CEO and co-founder of the company, Brett Godfrey announced in July 2009 his intention to step down from the leadership role this year.

 “I look forward to welcoming John and introducing him into the business. John has a proven track record in the aviation sector. He comes with enormous knowledge and experience. Importantly, I know he respects the Virgin Blue team and its culture,” said Mr Godfrey. “His understanding and participation in both the low cost and full service segments, has him uniquely placed to lead Virgin Blue in its next stage of development. I wish John and the brilliant team at Virgin Blue the very best and look forward to seeing the company grow and prosper in the years ahead.”

While the broad terms of Mr Borghetti’s employment have been agreed, various terms of the incentive components of his remuneration are still being finalised.

John Borghetti

John Borghetti, 54, is a leader in the aviation sector with some 36 years experience in a wide range of senior roles at Qantas prior to leaving the company in May 2008.

Mr Borghetti, was Executive General Manager of Qantas over the six years before he left the group and was responsible for over $10bn in revenue per annum, up to 16,000 staff and assets including approximately 200 aircraft.

He headed domestic and international operations including network operations, scheduling and pricing, sales and marketing, crew, customer service, product and brand. These responsibilities covered all full-service airlines in the Qantas group, which in addition to Qantas mainline, also included Australia’s regional carrier QantasLink and Qantas’s New Zealand operation Jetconnect. During his tenure as Executive General Manager Qantas Airlines, the company achieved its highest reported profit of over $1.4bn.

Other achievements at Qantas include the development of a number of subsidiary businesses such as the company’s Holiday Travel operations in Australia and Asia; building its Frequent Flyer membership to over 5 million; and increasing Qantas’s Australian corporate travel business. He also played a key role in formulating the company’s two-brand strategy and the introduction of low cost operator, Jetstar. Furthermore, Mr Borghetti led the complete redefinition and upgrade of Qantas’s product, design and customer service models - an initiative which transformed the brand and received numerous awards for excellence.

Prior to 2003, Mr Borghetti headed the airline’s Global Sales and Marketing operations, including responsibility for the Qantas Holidays group of companies.

In his early career, he held a variety of positions in various commercial areas in the airline’s Melbourne office, moving to Sydney in 1988.

Mr Borghetti’s current directorships are with Care Australia, Piper Aircraft, The Australian Ballet and Investment Committee Member of Investec Global Aircraft Fund. He will be stepping down from the Piper Aircraft board and the Investec Global Aircraft Fund.

Mr Borghetti is married, with two adult children and currently lives in Sydney but will move to Brisbane. He is fluent in Italian and is passionate about football, motor sports and classic cars.

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