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Virgin Australia has rebooked around 127,000 flights for Rex customers since the regional airline axed its domestic services last month.
The free bookings, announced as Rex went into administration on 31 July, are enough to fill around 715 737-800s at full capacity, with 30,000 of the rebooked flights having already been taken. Virgin says it has fielded around 77,000 online forms and 42,000 phone calls for rebookings.
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“We made an immediate and decisive decision to lend a helping hand to Australians impacted by circumstances confronting Rex’s jet services. There is a real sense of pride within the Virgin Australia team that we have been able to support Rex’s customers and employees in such a meaningful way,” Virgin Australia’s chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer, Christian Bennett, told Australian Aviation.
“Aviation is an intensely challenging and competitive sector. But it can also be – at times of challenge – a tightly knit community. And now is a moment of community.
“We are hopeful that doing our bit now – and through longer-term measures such as code-sharing and loyalty arrangements – we will help Rex continue to play an important role in Australian aviation, especially given its critical role connecting regional and rural communities.”
Virgin has mobilised 150 contact centre agents to manage the rebookings and said its on-time performance has remained steady despite the influx of additional passengers, with cancellation rates tracking at around 2 per cent – lower than in recent months.
The airline has also received around 500 expressions of interest from Rex employees, including pilots, cabin crew, guest services, pit crew, engineering, and corporate staff.
Virgin says 25 people are currently in the final stages of cabin crew recruitment processes following a cabin crew assessment day in Sydney, with further interviews and assessment days planned for eastern Australia.
The carrier moved to take over the leases of at least three former Rex 737-800s shortly after Rex entered voluntary administration, a sensational turnaround after Rex took the leases of old Virgin aircraft following its own collapse during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Rex’s regional flights with its Saab 340 fleet remain operational, with the federal government this week guaranteeing regional passengers will “fly or get their money back”; the airline’s Rex Flyer loyalty program is also still running.
Qantas Group, which is also rebooking Rex passengers on Qantas and Jetstar aircraft for free, has been contacted for comment.
