V-Flyer

Story: http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/ ... +boss.html

http://www.ttgdigital.com/news/virgin-c ... 83.article









[i]Edit to thread title to remove '?' ....... Nick[/]

Good spot. Not filled with confidence based on AA's diabolical service levels ... guess he'll be bringing plastic champagne glasses to VS if confirmed ): .

That said, if this is confirmed I hope he's better than AA as a whole so must trust those who selected him to have done a good job.

The appointment has been confirmed.

http://www.flightglobal.com/news/articl ... eo-380778/

And more on the guy here

http://www.aa.com/i18n/amrcorp/corporat ... reeger.jsp

I wonder if he is a good fit for Virgin? Time will tell I guess.

Fresh eyes and all that.

We should recall that some former AA execs, e.g. David Cush, are running Virgin America, and V-Flyers seem to like VX, so let's keep our fingers x-d.

Mmm, in his previous job he worked closely with one world partner ( and virgin villain ) British Airways.

And I don't suppose American Airlines and Delta were the best of buddies in the US market.

Lets hope a leopard can indeed change his spots ?| ?| ?|

David.

Something tells me a UK airline that's 49% owned by one US airline and run by a former senior executive of another isn't good news for we British passengers who've come to expect more from our flying experience than the bus-with-wings mentality of our American cousins.

Let's hope his first questions aren't "why are you giving away alcohol in economy", "why aren't you charging for seat reservations" and "why are your lounges so nice". But I fear they might be.

David wrote:Mmm, in his previous job he worked closely with one world partner ( and virgin villain ) British Airways.

And I don't suppose American Airlines and Delta were the best of buddies in the US market.

Lets hope a leopard can indeed change his spots ?| ?| ?|

David.

John borghetti (Ex QF) has done very well at Virgin Australia.

gumshoe wrote:Something tells me a UK airline that's 49% ow ned by one US airline and run by a former senior executive of another isn't good news for we British passengers who've come to expect more from our flying experience than the bus-with-wings mentality of our American cousins.

Let's hope his first questions aren't "why are you giving away alcohol in economy", "why aren't you charging for seat reservations" and "why are your lounges so nice". But I fear they might be.

New carry on luggage quota to include a small family hatchback?

northernhenry wrote:

gumshoe wrote:Something tells me a UK airline that's 49% ow ned by one US airline and run by a former senior executive of another isn't good news for we British passengers who've come to expect more from our flying experience than the bus-with-wings mentality of our American cousins.

Let's hope his first questions aren't "why are you giving away alcohol in economy", "why aren't you charging for seat reservations" and "why are your lounges so nice". But I fear they might be.

New carry on luggage quota to include a small family hatchback?

Although that in turn would necessitate at least 10 more FC status tiers, to allow for sufficiently granular priority boarding... Unless they call you individually based on how many TPs you have...

Maybe the CH will start issuing you with 2 vouchers for alcoholic drinks (or have even the likes of United stopped that now, I'm a bit out of touch with US carriers, thankfully).

Perhaps a coin slot on the CH pool tables. And put those jars of sweets into a vending machine...

Aaargh, my rampant cynicism is on the loose! Ok, let's give the guy a chance...

Appointing a complete outsider with no experience of working for the Virgin group does seem like quite a radical move and one I don't think VS would have done five years ago when I think "cultural fit" with Virgin and experience of the Virgin group would be very high on the headhunter's checklist.

But the joint-venture with Delta is going to be a big step and his knowledge of the inner-workings of the American and BA joint-venture is likely to be quite valuable. As will be his knowledge of the US domestic market. The US market does work differently to the UK (Delta has multiple US hubs, Virgin has one UK hub) and Virgin will have to adapt.

When BA and American started their joint-venture many said that American would lower BA's service standards and that hasn't happened. The opposite has happened and American is continuing to improve.

One thing that does surprise me is that he's joining on 1 February. I would have thought American would have put him on gardening leave for at last three months.

AA fliers report that they will miss Mr. Kreeger because he is instrumental in turning around the service quality of AA for the better. It makes sense that he will be joining VS on February 1 since the AA announcement regarding their disposition under bankruptcy is now eminent. Let's hope Mr. Kreeger will be a positive force for VS.

gumshoe wrote:Something tells me a UK airline that's 49% owned by one US airline and run by a former senior executive of another isn't good news for we British passengers who've come to expect more from our flying experience than the bus-with-wings mentality of our American cousins.

Totally agree. Let's hope he proves us wrong. To say he will be missed at AA for raising service levels is pretty faint praise!

at240 wrote:Totally agree. Let's hope he proves us wrong. To say he will be missed at AA for raising service levels is pretty faint praise!

Indeed, I doubt there are many here, who given a choice would choose AA over VS.

But as others have commented, I don't think he's been hired because he's going to bring back red cushions, but to make the DL JV work. This could mean VS strengthens the brand and it could also mean a diminution of what V-Flyers think makes VS special. I hope not for the sake of simply more options to fly to the US, even where schedules were aligned I'd still opt for a VS plane and crew whereas I suspect the opposite is true for many DL flyers if they get their status recognized. So, all in all, time to use up those miles methinks.

slinky09 wrote:But as others have commented, I don't think he's been hired because he's going to bring back red cushions, but to make the DL JV work.

I am sure that is right, but I do hope he is sensitive to the VS way of doing things. If he eliminates the distinctive elements of VS, then (to be frank) I suspect OneWorld will start to look a better option for many of us, given the strength of AA/BA to North America.

Hello Craig.

You would of anticipating some background insights to be underway in getting a feel for his new pax's issues, expect some lurking likely to occur...