‘Make flying fun again’: US firm bidding for collapsed airline Virgin Australia vows to bring back the best parts of the airline’s original culture
- US-based investment firm Bain Capital is on the shortlist of potential buyers
- Bain flagged the ‘fun’ virtues touted by the airline when it began as Virgin Blue
- There are three other potential buyers, including two more US-based companies
One of the frontrunners to take over bankrupt airline Virgin Australia has vowed to ‘make flying fun again’.
US investment firm Bain Capital is on the shortlist of bidders submitting a second-round proposal to buy the embattled airline from Deloitte administrators.
In a statement on Sunday, the company’s Sydney-based managing director Mike Murphy flagged the ‘fun’ virtues touted by the airline when it originally came to Australia in 2000 as budget carrier Virgin Blue.
‘We want to bring back the best parts of the Virgin Blue culture and make flying fun again,’ he said.
Virgin Australia was already struggling with $5billion debts before its planes were grounded due to strict coronavirus travel bans. Pictured: People at the Brisbane domestic terminal in March
He also addressed concerns by workers unions urging the new owner to cooperate with Virgin’s 10,000 staff while the aviation industry navigates its way out of the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus crisis.
‘We have the strongest capital base of any of the bidders. We know aviation isn’t going to return to normal any time soon, but Bain Capital is here for the long haul with deep funding to navigate these difficult times.’
‘We will be a reliable partner for staff. Without them, there is no airline.’
Bain Capital, which also owns Maldives-based seaplane carrier Trans Maldivian Airways, will compete with three additional contenders.
They include a partnership between equity firm BGH Capital and AustralianSuper, and two US bidders Cyrus and Phoenix, and Indigo Partners – none of which have released a statement about the impending sale.
Virgin Australia was already struggling with $5billion debts before its planes were grounded. Pictured: Virgin Australia flights attendants at Brisbane airport after the company went into administration
Each party will submit their second-round offers by the end of the week, with binding bids due on June 12.
The travel industry was one of the hardest hit when the pandemic escalated with borders being closed across the globe.
Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah (pictured) asked the government for a financial bailout in March
The Australian government provided a $715million support package for Qantas, Virgin Australia and regional airlines hit by the COVID-19 crisis in March.
Two weeks after the cash injection, Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah asked the government for a $1.4billion loan.
The request was quickly refused as government officials said it was not their job to bail out specific businesses.
Virgin Australia was already struggling with $5billion debts before its planes were grounded due to strict coronavirus travel bans.
The airline went into voluntary administration in April owning a total of $7billion making it the largest aviation casualty of the crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.
The company is 90 per cent foreign owned with Singapore Airlines, Etihad Airways and Chinese conglomerates HNA Group and Hanshan owning 80 per cent between them while Richard Branson’s Virgin Group still owns 10 per cent.