Virgin Australia keeps a bare-bones service in the air as it searches for a buyer
Running an airline with no money and few planes in the air has been “gruelling”, the Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge admits. Strawbridge and three other partners at big four accounting firm Deloitte were appointed as administrators by the airline’s board on the afternoon of 20 April, after the failure that morning of the group’s latest, and final, attempt to get a bailout from the federal government. Since then, he has been dealing with nervous creditors owed a staggering A$6.8b, anxious union leaders keen to preserve the jobs of as many of the airline’s 10,000 workers as possible, and a swarm of potential buyers, while at the same time keeping a bare-bones service in the air. To do this, Strawbridge and the other administrators have also had to convince the federal court judge John Middleton to make extraordinary orders on Friday that allow them to avoid personal liability for the vast bulk of debts the airline continues to incur on their watch. They’ve also taken legal action in the US to protect the airline’s assets from creditors there. Story has details.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2020-05-18/unaligned/virgin-australia-keeps-a-bare-bones-service-in-the-air-as-it-searches-for-a-buyer
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Virgin Australia keeps a bare-bones service in the air as it searches for a buyer
Running an airline with no money and few planes in the air has been “gruelling”, the Virgin Australia administrator Vaughan Strawbridge admits. Strawbridge and three other partners at big four accounting firm Deloitte were appointed as administrators by the airline’s board on the afternoon of 20 April, after the failure that morning of the group’s latest, and final, attempt to get a bailout from the federal government. Since then, he has been dealing with nervous creditors owed a staggering A$6.8b, anxious union leaders keen to preserve the jobs of as many of the airline’s 10,000 workers as possible, and a swarm of potential buyers, while at the same time keeping a bare-bones service in the air. To do this, Strawbridge and the other administrators have also had to convince the federal court judge John Middleton to make extraordinary orders on Friday that allow them to avoid personal liability for the vast bulk of debts the airline continues to incur on their watch. They’ve also taken legal action in the US to protect the airline’s assets from creditors there. Story has details.<br/>
