Clawing Back Tigerair

Tiger, tiger, burning bright. It’s what Virgin Australia wants to see at its budget subsidiary Tigerair as the no-frills operator prepares to make its initial foray offshore in March next year. So far, the signs are promising as it creeps into profit for the first time, dramatically improves on-time performance and goes all out to present a new image to the flying public.

When long-time Qantas executive Rob Sharp took charge of a battered Tiger Airways in May 2013 he faced a mountainous task. Tagged as Australia’s worst airline, still recovering from a total fleet grounding in 2011 over safety concerns and saddled with a dreadful reputation for delayed flights, cancellations and poor customer service, its future was far from assured. Today, there is plenty of evidence to suggest there’s a lightBACKat the end of the tunnel.

As the now renamed Tigerair Australia announced a series of improvements in late October, Sharp was bullish about the resurrection. “A tiger can change its stripes,” he declared, vowing a refurbished carrier is set to give its main rival, Qantas’s Jetstar, a run for its money. “We said two years ago that we were going to change Tiger and now we have. Customers have told us that they want to keep affordable fares, they want flights on time, and they wanted some customer service, and we’re now delivering on all that.

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