Jayne Hrdlicka: Virgin Australia’s former boss to snare $50 million payday

Former Virgin Australia boss Jayne Hrdlicka will receive a golden handshake worth about $50 million for successfully flying the airline out of administration.

The bumper payday is an incentive reward for readying the airline for its June stock exchange float and a prior deal that saw Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways take a 25 per cent stake in Virgin.

Virgin’s annual report reveals Ms Hrdlicka retained more than 10 million shares, worth $33.19 million at Friday’s share price of $3.24, under a management equity plan designed to “incentivise the transformation from voluntary administration to a successful, profitable business”.

Ms Hrdlicka led the airline from a coronavirus bankruptcy in November, 2020 to a profitable business under new owner Bain Capital by the time of her departure in March this year.

The former CEO also received $1.2m in total fixed remuneration, $13.8m in “other cash benefits”, $4.2m in termination benefits and $637,000 in short-term incentives.

The report discloses Ms Hrdlicka may have received six million more shares if she had not left the airline early.

Her termination and performance-related payments will be released progressively over a three-year period subject to compliance with post-employment conditions.

Under the terms of the MEP, Ms Hrdlicka will be able to start selling her shares in February after Virgin releases its half-year financial results.

“The MEP payout, earned over the prior four years during which executives received a below-market annual remuneration package, is heavily weighted to the period following a successful IPO and remains subject to escrow conditions to support ongoing sustainable value creation,” the report, released Friday, said.

The scheme was put in place in 2021 as Virgin began its recovery against the backdrop of a global pandemic that decimated the travel industry. It has since been discontinued.

Ms Hrdlicka’s share allocation was significantly more than her replacement Dave Emerson, Velocity chief executive Nick Rohrlach and chief financial officer Race Strauss, who received a combined 11 million shares.

Her payout also overshadows that received by former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who pocketed a final bonus of $3.8m last financial year after the airline’s surging share price boosted the value of his performance-related shares.

Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson took home pay and shares worth $6.3m after being slugged $250,000 for a major cyber attack in June that exposed the personal details of millions of customers.

Her rival, Mr Emerson, took home about $13.9m, with the lion’s share coming from incentive-based stock.

The Transport Workers’ Union slammed Ms Hrdlicka’s payout, saying it would bear “significant weight” when it came to discussions on fatigue management, rostering and pay ahead of 2026 bargaining.

“We cannot continue to see CEOs and executives in aviation pocket obscene salaries while the industry is at breaking point,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.

“What is crystal clear is that if the airline can hand out exorbitant pay packets to executives it can ensure its workers have good, secure jobs.”

Virgin reported a net profit of $479m for the 2025 financial year — down 12.3 per cent from the previous year — following one-off costs associated with the IPO.

The airline hit the ASX boards in June at $2.90 a share on a market value of $2.3 billion and has since added around 10 per cent in value as investors back the airline to challenge Qantas via its strategic partnership with Qatar Airways.

US-born Ms Hrdlicka is a former Bain consultant and prior chief executive of the a2 Milk Company.

She will start as the chief executive of bottle shop giant Dan Murphy’s in early 2026, and remains as chairperson of Tennis Australia.