Cut ties, stolen shoes and exciting change at Virgin Atlantic

Cut ties, stolen shoes and exciting change at Virgin Atlantic

From cutting ties to stealing shoes to a new CEO, I’ve enjoyed a fascinating time with the team at Virgin Atlantic and our partners from Delta Air Lines this week.

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I travelled to Atlanta to catch up with the team, enjoying a celebration in the Delta museum, complete with a traditional English tea.

First, I joined Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian for a Q&A hosted by the Junior Achievement organisation of Atlanta (JA), which inspires and prepares young people to succeed in a global economy.

Before we went onstage, I thought Ed looked far too formal, so as Jack Harris, CEO of the JA, asked us the first question I couldn’t resist cutting off ED’s tie. 

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Jack quizzed us on how we started in business, and what the Virgin Atlantic/Delta partnership means to us and our businesses. We discussed how our visions align, and how we can help each other to become more purposeful and profitable. Both companies share a focus on empowering our people and treating them well. Ed shared how important the local Atlantic community is to Delta, and announced they are donating $2 million to the JA.

Then we travelled to the Delta campus to host a town hall meeting with 1000 Delta employees and our Virgin Atlantic team in the Delta Museum.

Being partners with Delta is a lot like having a big brother for Virgin Atlantic. Having Delta to support us gives our customers farther reach and more access to many different places around the world. But when Ed joked that he was the more stylish brother, I had to admit I really liked his shoes. Before he knew it, I was stealing his shoes and giving him mine! The partnership is costing Ed a lot more than he thought! 

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Later on I took a trip down memory lane when I got back into the balloon from one of my global adventures. It was a strange feeling having my feet firmly on the ground in the balloon for once! Ed and I enjoyed speaking to more of our wonderful teams, and I got chance to visit the Virgin office, which is within the Delta campus. It’s brilliantly called ‘The Wing’ to meet the employees that make our companies so special.

The timing couldn’t have been better, as the next day we announced an exciting new change. Craig Kreeger, who has done a great job as CEO for the past five years, is passing the baton to Shai Weiss, our current Chief Commercial Officer. Craig will step down at the end of the year. In his time he has focused our people on providing the best customer service by refreshing our onboard experience, bringing in new planes and bringing us closer to our partner Delta, opening more destinations and opportunities for our flyers.

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I’ve worked closely with Shai for more than a decade. He set up the Virgin Green Fund and ran our investment team. I know his drive, commitment and passion mean the airline and our amazing people are in great hands. It’s wonderful to see such a brilliant member of the Virgin family continue to fly.

It’s been great to celebrate all that we have become and it’s even more timely as this weekend marks Virgin Atlantic’s 34th birthday – incredible how time has flown. We commenced operations with a flight on June 22nd, 1984 and many thought we were doomed to fail – but we’ve had an absolute blast proving our critics wrong ever since.

The next few years are exciting as we build on the opportunities created by our expanded partnership with Delta and Air France-KLM to bring in more new planes and access to more routes. I can’t wait to see us reach new heights in the years to come. Oh, and yes, I did give Ed his shoes back at the end of the day! 

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