Virgin CEO begs for taxpayer bail-out

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The Morrison Government is believed to be considering additional financial support for the nation’s airlines, to ensure that passenger and freight services continue on essential domestic routes. Virgin Australia CEO Paul Scurrah has been lobbying government ministers and Labor frontbenchers to secure support for a proposed $1.4 billion loan facility for the struggling carrier. Labor has backed calls for the government to provide more financial support for Virgin, including extending or guaranteeing lines of credit and/or taking an equity stake:

Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah has spent the Easter weekend calling federal government ministers and opposition frontbenchers in a bid to secure support ahead of a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that could decide the debt-heavy airline’s future…

The move comes as The Australian can reveal Virgin has been working on a restructuring of its $5bn debt load, appointing advisory firm Houlihan Lokey…

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.