“This is a tough day for our airline … [but] we’re certainly not collapsing,” Scurrah said.
He said it is Virgin’s “absolute intention to emerge stronger” and that Australia “needs a second airline”.
“In the last decade, [shareholders have] invested something in the order of $6 billion to create an excellent airline, an airline that outperforms its competitor on customer service, on on-time running and reliability and significantly on culture, and that is something worth preserving,” said Scurrah.
“We always knew that there was work to do on the balance sheet and that is something that we’ll be addressing more aggressively through the actions of the voluntary administration.
“We take comfort from the comments from the government that this country needs a robust and healthy two-airline market. And because of this procession we’re going through, because of the early decision of our board, that airline will be Virgin Australia.
“We’ll come back leaner, stronger and fitter, and play our role in making sure that the economy of Australia – which is currently devastated by the impact of COVID-19 – recovers as quickly as it possibly can for all Australians.”
Scurrah emphasised the importance of having competition in “the skies of Australia”.
“It has made air fares come down by in excess of 37 per cent since our inception,” he said.
“We intend to keep doing that and by being around in a healthy, lean and fit state on the other side of voluntary administration, it means we’ll continue to do that for decades to come.”
In a statement to the ASX on Tuesday, Virgin Australia confirmed the decision to go into voluntary administration comes after seeking “financial assistance from a number of parties, including state and federal governments, to help it through the unprecedented crisis, however is yet to secure the required support”.
— Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) April 20, 2020
Meanwhile, federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has also said Virgin going into voluntary administration is “not the end of the airline”.
“Rather, as the company itself has said in its statement, this is an opportunity for the company to recapitalise and come out stronger on the other side of the coronavirus crisis,” he said.
The treasurer said the federal government would not “bail out five large foreign shareholders with deep pockets who, together, own 90 per cent of this airline”.
He said the JobKeeper payment will continue to be available for Virgin employees.
