| Dear Geoff,
I was amused to read Qantas's completely dismissive comments
about Virgin Atlantic's chances of getting permission to fly to Australia. It would be prudent for you to remind yourself of your
and James Strong's equally dismissive comments about Virgin Blue's chances of entering the Australian market only three years
ago.
Here goes! This is the gist of what you said:
"Virgin Blue is a lot of media hype."
"This market is not big enough to sustain Virgin Blue."
"Virgin Blue doesn't have deep enough pockets to cope."
"Qantas will employ any option to see off this interloper."
"They'll be unlikely to survive a year."
"Claims by Richard Branson that domestic fares are high are a misnomer!"
(my exclamation mark)
Here is what James Strong, your former
C.E.O, said about Virgin Blue and myself:
"If you listen to most of the pretenders there is a distinct air that
they are making it up as they go along. In terms of real plans and
real commitment you could fire a shot gun up the main street and
not hit anybody."
Yet three years later you are telling your staff that this same airline,
"that was making it up as it went along" and that now has 30% of
the market could, "Drive Qantas out of business!" We also find it
flattering, if a little silly, that three years on you now have spies
hiding behind pot plants in the Virgin terminal trying to work out
why we are so successful.
Even if some of your comments don't suggest it, your actions
indicate you are taking us seriously. But let's not take ourselves
too seriously. I would like to propose a friendly challenge!
If Virgin Atlantic fails to fly to Australia (within 18 months, say) I'd
be prepared to suffer the indignity of donning one of your stewardesses brand new designer outfits and will work your flight
from London to Australia serving your customers throughout.
However, if Virgin Atlantic does fly to Australia you would do so
instead. On our inaugural flight from London to Australia you would wear one of our beautiful red Virgin Stewardesses uniforms
and serve our inaugural guests all the way to Australia. Oh and in
case you were wondering, we're not hung up on flying through
Hong Kong. You might end up doing your days work experience
through Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia instead.
This is the challenge. If you believe in what Qantas said to the
press there can't be any risk for you. We expect your response within one week. Our inaugural flights are great fun and I look
forward to welcoming you on board personally. Oh and by the way my preferred drink is ………..!
Kind regards,
[EDITED
OUT SIGNATURE OF SIR RICHARD BRANSON]
p.s. I enclose
[Edit
In - Picture below]
a picture to give you an idea of what you might look like.
cc: Mackenzie Grant -Head of Virgin Atlantic, Asia Pacific Region. |
