V-Flyer

Virgin Atlantic has announced that Shai Weiss will step down as CEO on 31 December 2025.

Shai will be succeeded by Corneel Koster from 1 January 2026.

https://corporate.virginatlantic.com/gb ... ssion.html

After a successful seven-year tenure, Shai will stand down as Chief Executive and leave the airline on 31 December 2025. Corneel Koster will succeed Shai and become CEO on 1 January 2026.

Corneel re-joined Virgin Atlantic in 2019 as Board Member and Chief Customer Officer, expanding his role to Chief Customer and Operating Officer in 2020. He has been instrumental in running a safe and reliable operation, leading frontline teams and delivering Virgin Atlantic’s renowned customer experience. As part of the leadership team, he played a pivotal role ensuring the airline emerged from the pandemic thriving and reliable, while leading the introduction of the airline’s award-winning A330neo aircraft and delivering digital operational transformation.

Spanning three decades, Corneel has extensive leadership experience in the sector, holding senior operational and commercial roles at Virgin Atlantic and partners Delta Air Lines, Aeroméxico and KLM, contributing to his deep understanding and passion for travel and aviation. Between 2010 and 2013, Corneel held the position of Director of Operations, Safety and Security at Virgin Atlantic.

Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, commented: “I want to congratulate Corneel on his appointment, which is so well deserved. I can think of no one better to take over as he knows what it takes to drive Virgin Atlantic to the next level and he’ll continue to innovate for our people and our guests, making them smile every step of the way.

“I leave Virgin Atlantic full of pride, knowing I have played a part in its bright red history. Together, we’ve transformed through the pandemic and emerged faster, better and stronger than ever. We are now well on our way to achieving our mission of becoming the most loved travel company, having laid the foundations for a world of exciting opportunities as a premium flag carrier.”

Corneel Koster, Chief Customer and Operating Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said: “I’ve long held a very special place in my heart for Virgin Atlantic, so it’s an incredible privilege to take up the role of CEO. We’ve always done everything in our power to give our customers and our people the best experience in the skies, delivered with a smile and the special challenger spirit that Richard instilled in us from day one. I’m determined we carry that spirit forward.

“I’d like to thank the Virgin Atlantic Board for their trust and confidence and to thank Shai for his leadership and his friendship. I’m proud to lead our talented teams into our next chapter. We will deliver value for our customers, people, shareholders and the communities we serve, while ensuring that Virgin Atlantic remains the airline that dares to do things differently.”

Let’s see if there will be any further drastic changes next year then!

Shai was a numbers guy. Hence the cutting customer experience back to the bone.

Maybe the new guy will be more customer focused. Only time will tell.

Corneel Is a good guy I have raised one or two issues with him in the past and always got back to me. Shai was previously the CFO of VS so that is to be expected. Hence the reason why we seen reduce service in all cabins. Along with the Manchester Clubhouse being cancelled. I raised this point with Corneel previously and the consensus was they needed 5 or 6 flights a day to make it work. So bringing back LAX or BOS would be enough as MAN has 4 flights a day at the moment. Let’s see what happens in the New Year.

Joshl257 wrote:Corneel Is a good guy I have raised one or two issues with him in the past and always got back to me. Shai was previously the CFO of VS so that is to be expected. Hence the reason why we seen reduce service in all cabins. Along with the Manchester Clubhouse being cancelled. I raised this point with Corneel previously and the consensus was they needed 5 or 6 flights a day to make it work. So bringing back LAX or BOS would be enough as MAN has 4 flights a day at the moment. Let’s see what happens in the New Year.

Space is the problem at MAN... the space the Clubhouse was to have taken is now spoken for (MAN are relocating the 1903 lounge to it, so the existing Escape Lounge can be extended into what is currently 1903).

I do wonder if anything will change at MAN after this as Shai has always been London (LHR) centric...it is after all where the money is plus he's got VS back into the black and making a profit so at the end of the day he's doing something right.

The challenge for the new CEO is building on the progress made last year and keeping VS in the black. We don’t know yet whether 2025 is a profitable year or not and some of the economic headwinds that have become prevalent this year don’t seem to be going away.

As for a MAN Clubhouse, I suspect the lost space means that will be off the table for quite some time. VS should consider looking east from MAN for growth as that’s where a lot of new long-haul routes have opened to this decade, but two places (DEL and BOM) are being served by IndiGo.

VS din't make money pre pandemic because it's cost base was out of control. Credit to Shai as he did get VS back in the black. Consolidating London operations to LHR and dropping the 747's and concentrating on growth markets like India
The balance sheet has also had an overall with VS now pausing cash for A350's and A339's.

With Manchester I feel like VS was very aggressive when Thomas Cook was still with VS matching most of its network. But post covid they have very much gone back to the old network it had in 2015. Maybe VS have been put off by all the construction in T2, Scrapping the Clubhouse was short sighted, yes these things cost money but the last tinge you would want is a competitor to then take that space and use it to their advantage. Maybe we might see some new routes come back in 2026 with the MAN TP coming to an end. For reference Aer Lingus UK which is the Manchester operation of Aer Lingus reported a £6.4 million profit for 2024.

Joshl257 wrote:VS din't make money pre pandemic because it's cost base was out of control. Credit to Shai as he did get VS back in the black. Consolidating London operations to LHR and dropping the 747's and concentrating on growth markets like India
The balance sheet has also had an overall with VS now pausing cash for A350's and A339's.

With Manchester I feel like VS was very aggressive when Thomas Cook was still with VS matching most of its network. But post covid they have very much gone back to the old network it had in 2015. Maybe VS have been put off by all the construction in T2, Scrapping the Clubhouse was short sighted, yes these things cost money but the last tinge you would want is a competitor to then take that space and use it to their advantage. Maybe we might see some new routes come back in 2026 with the MAN TP coming to an end. For reference Aer Lingus UK which is the Manchester operation of Aer Lingus reported a £6.4 million profit for 2024.

The years-long redevelopment works at MAN haven’t put off other airlines from expanding or even launching new routes. I’d hazard a guess the lack of expansion compared to before is a combination of resources (those 747s weren’t directly replaced initially and there were the redundancies during COVID) and chasing opportunities elsewhere, particularly with the precious LHR slots. Another factor is economical.

Agreed about Aer Lingus UK. Although they compete with VS, they seem to have a nice little operation and shows there’s room for more than one airline going west. It will be interesting to see whether they launch any more routes besides JFK, MCO and the seasonal BGI. Aer Lingus in Ireland are in the process of taking delivery of various A321XLRs and an A321LR was on the UK register initially. They would be perfect for potentially launching routes such as BOS.

VS075 wrote:

Joshl257 wrote:VS din't make money pre pandemic because it's cost base was out of control. Credit to Shai as he did get VS back in the black. Consolidating London operations to LHR and dropping the 747's and concentrating on growth markets like India
The balance sheet has also had an overall with VS now pausing cash for A350's and A339's.

With Manchester I feel like VS was very aggressive when Thomas Cook was still with VS matching most of its network. But post covid they have very much gone back to the old network it had in 2015. Maybe VS have been put off by all the construction in T2, Scrapping the Clubhouse was short sighted, yes these things cost money but the last tinge you would want is a competitor to then take that space and use it to their advantage. Maybe we might see some new routes come back in 2026 with the MAN TP coming to an end. For reference Aer Lingus UK which is the Manchester operation of Aer Lingus reported a £6.4 million profit for 2024.

The years-long redevelopment works at MAN haven’t put off other airlines from expanding or even launching new routes. I’d hazard a guess the lack of expansion compared to before is a combination of resources (those 747s weren’t directly replaced initially and there were the redundancies during COVID) and chasing opportunities elsewhere, particularly with the precious LHR slots. Another factor is economical.

Agreed about Aer Lingus UK. Although they compete with VS, they seem to have a nice little operation and shows there’s room for more than one airline going west. It will be interesting to see whether they launch any more routes besides JFK, MCO and the seasonal BGI. Aer Lingus in Ireland are in the process of taking delivery of various A321XLRs and an A321LR was on the UK register initially. They would be perfect for potentially launching routes such as BOS.

I'm surprised VS have not brought back BOS and LAX as DL has quite a big present at the airports. I'm guessing it's to do with the shortage of aircraft for expansion maybe that might change under the new CEO.

Aer Lingus UK has just voted for strike action starting on the 30th of October with multiple dates throughout November going all the way up to the 18th of November. Due to below market pay for Manchester based staff in comparison to what their Dublin colleagues have been paid.

The other problem with MAN though his VS don't even operate routes 7 days a week. Why is ATL not daily? That is just insane. That's one of the reasons why I no longer consider using VS from MAN any more.

Also for every EDI departure means 1 less MAN departure as VS just take an A/C from a MAN rotation. Isn't EDI also increasing next year so that will mean even less MAN flights.

VS simply do not take MAN seriously enough. I'm done with VS and MAN now.

Joshl257 wrote:I'm surprised VS have not brought back BOS and LAX as DL has quite a big present at the airports. I'm guessing it's to do with the shortage of aircraft for expansion maybe that might change under the new CEO.

Aer Lingus UK has just voted for strike action starting on the 30th of October with multiple dates throughout November going all the way up to the 18th of November. Due to below market pay for Manchester based staff in comparison to what their Dublin colleagues have been paid.

Probably for the same reasons why other routes have been stillborn and I'm now of the mindset something will happen once the flight appears on the departure boards - though to be fair it's not exclusively at MAN where VS have announced a route only to then pull it (LHR-HAV comes to mind).

BOS would be worth another go seasonally, particuarly given they will be the sole airline on the route unless Aer Lingus UK ever launch it. I felt at the time the route couldn't sustain two airlines and I stand by that.

mitchja wrote:The other problem with MAN though his VS don't even operate routes 7 days a week. Why is ATL not daily? That is just insane. That's one of the reasons why I no longer consider using VS from MAN any more.

Also for every EDI departure means 1 less MAN departure as VS just take an A/C from a MAN rotation. Isn't EDI also increasing next year so that will mean even less MAN flights.

VS simply do not take MAN seriously enough. I'm done with VS and MAN now.

The very significant gap between what was once promised pre-Covid (7/8 based aircraft with a network including India, LAX, BOS etc) and the current reality is very stark.

Having at least daily connections to JFK and ATL and frequent (5+ weekly) rotations to LAX and BOS should be a minimum. Sadly, I think the opportunity MAN-India is being exploited by Indigo, the silver lining may be (in short order) between 2-4 daily A359 of potential connecting capacity over MAN to BOM, DEL and possibly other Indian gateways. Can VS leverage that?

mitchja wrote:The other problem with MAN though his VS don't even operate routes 7 days a week. Why is ATL not daily? That is just insane. That's one of the reasons why I no longer consider using VS from MAN any more.

Also for every EDI departure means 1 less MAN departure as VS just take an A/C from a MAN rotation. Isn't EDI also increasing next year so that will mean even less MAN flights.

VS simply do not take MAN seriously enough. I'm done with VS and MAN now.

That's a very vailed point James about ATL not being daily in the winter.
I forget VS has an EDI operation at times. I would have thought after LGW closed as a base the 5 low J A350's would all move up to MAN.

I'm optimistic a new CEO might create the much needed strategy change for MAN growth.
I also flew from LHR this summer on VS 129 to TPA was night and day better than MAN. It helped that I used the Upper Class wing and Clubhouse. I was also on Cherry Bakewell the newest plane in the fleet so no broken IFE or seats.