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Paul Jones will replace Dave Emerson as Virgin Australia’s chief commercial officer following Emerson’s promotion to CEO.
Jones, previously Virgin’s chief customer and digital officer, was last month ruled out of the running to replace outgoing chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka after facing controversy over his role in the illegal outsourcing of Qantas ground workers during the pandemic.
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Virgin last week announced that Emerson, who has been with the airline since 2021, will replace Hrdlicka as CEO starting 14 March.
In response to the CEO announcement, the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) – an ardent critic of Jones – said last week that Emerson “must make it clear that workers are a priority going forward”.
“An architect of Qantas’ illegal outsourcing, Paul Jones as Virgin CEO would have entrenched low morale and poor decision-making at Virgin,” said national secretary Michael Kaine.
“We’ve seen positive decisions made at Virgin around insourcing and full-time jobs and a co-operative relationship when it comes to worker consultation, in stark contrast to the Qantas model of workforce fragmentation and dismantling of good jobs.
“But we need to see more changes to address workers’ concerns and that must involve listening to the workforce and committing to decent jobs as a cornerstone of the airline.
“Our door is open for the new CEO to meet with worker representatives to establish a long-term plan for the airline that would treat skilled and experienced workers as an essential investment, and build and maintain Virgin as a strong airline into the future.”
In a statement to Australian Aviation, Kaine stood by the union’s criticism of Jones, saying “anyone playing a part in illegal actions will always have a question mark over them”.
“Virgin made the right call not to appoint Paul Jones, the architect of illegal outsourcing at Qantas, as its CEO,” he said.
“We look forward to meeting incoming CEO Dave Emerson with the view to establishing a co-operative relationship when it comes to worker consultation.”
Hrdlicka, who will remain with the airline for several months to assist as needed with the transition, said last week that Emerson was an “excellent choice” to lead Virgin.
“He has proven himself as a strong leader and has been a key contributor to Virgin Australia’s successful transformation journey,” she said.
“His breadth of experience will be invaluable to the company and he brings the added advantage of being part of the team that created our blueprint for continued improvement in both profitability and growth.”
Virgin Australia has been contacted for comment.
