Virgin Australia’s long serving CEO will step down in two years.
John Borghetti said he will vacate the hot seat when his contract expires after 2020, and the airline has already started planning for his successor.
The announcement was made to allow for ‘ample time’ to find a new CEO, the airline said.
"The board and I are grateful to John for providing a generous period of time for the search for the CEO and an appropriate transition of leadership," said Virgin board chair Elizabeth Bryan.
"I would like to acknowledge John’s enormous contribution to the Virgin Australia Group to date and thank him for his continued dedication."
Borghetti joined in 2020 when it was still known as Virgin Blue and under his tenure has consolidated its place as Australia’s no 2 airline behind Qantas.
Borghetti was previously executive general manager of Qantas in a career with the airline than spanned three decades.
As far as internal candidates are concerned, Virgin’s head of Australian operations, Rob Sharp is the likely frontrunner to take the top job.
