VIRGIN AUSTRALIA: Jayne Hrdlicka pockets almost AU$50 million as ex-CEO

And, we through Alan Joyce was well paid. Turns out you can earn even better with a smaller airline. Virgin Australia’s former CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, has pocketed almost $50 million for her time at the airline. Depending on how you count it, she has earnt closer to $55 million, according to Virgin’s first annual report since its return to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

That’s a big number for a company that went into administration at the start of the pandemic. It also shows us how private equity operates to reward its risk takers. Take big risks, work executives hard, and if the turnaround works, pay out handsomely.

Path to payday

Hrdlicka joined the Virgin Australia rescue in 2020, reportedly bringing the plan to Bain Capital. At the time half of Australia was in lockdown and the airline’s future looked less than certain. To recruit senior executives, Bain put together a management equity plan in 2021. Instead of huge salaries, managers were offered equity funded by company loans. On paper, that is risky, but potentially lucrative if Bain and the executives could pull off the turnaround to relist Virgin.

By 2025, that’s exactly what happened. Virgin is profitable, Bain has tripled its money, and Hrdlicka has walked away with:

• AU$20.4 million in salary, bonuses and cash payments in the 2025 financial year, including discretionary rewards for landing Qatar Airways as a 25% shareholder and getting Virgin IPO-ready.
• 10.2 million Virgin shares worth around AU$29.7 million at the IPO price, with their value now higher at current trading levels.
• Loan forgiveness and other equity sweeteners worth nearly $9 million.

Add it all up and you get the AU$49.9 million disclosed in Virgin’s annual report. If you calculate it at today’s share price, you can add another AU$5 million to the price.

Bain is the big winner

Bain Capital, which scooped Virgin out of administration in 2020, has made at least 3.5 times its initial investment – rising to 5.5 times if it cashes in the rest of its stake, now worth about AU$1 billion on paper. Hrdlicka, meanwhile, has set herself up for life.

Qantas’ shareholders might grumble at their own company’s past governance headaches, but Bain’s deal shows private equity’s playbook in sharp relief: executives take below-market salaries, gamble on equity, and if the turnaround pays off, the rewards are outsized.

For Virgin’s new ASX investors, the task now is more prosaic – narrowing the discount between Virgin and Qantas’ market valuations. But for Bain and Hrdlicka, the champagne corks have already popped.

How Hrdlicka’s payday stacks up

Let’s look at some comparisons with other airline CEOs from available data:

CEO	Airline	Year	Pay Package	Notes
Jayne Hrdlicka	Virgin Australia	2025	~$50–55m	Equity-based windfall from Bain’s management plan + bonuses
Alan Joyce	Qantas	2023 exit year	~$21m	Mix of salary, bonuses, and share vesting
Doug Parker	American Airlines	2016	~$12m	Typical for US majors at the time
Akbar Al Baker	Qatar Airways	n/a	Not disclosed	State-owned carrier, pay opaque
Tim Clark	Emirates	n/a	Not disclosed	Emirates does not publish CEO salaries

Hrdlicka’s haul towers over her peers – even Joyce’s controversial 2023 payout looks modest by comparison.

2PAXfly Takeout

Let me just say that all these pay packets are obscene. I don’t think anyone, especially if working for a listed public company, should be earning this kind of money. Not when they employ workers, or have shareholders who are actually risking the money.

With that rider, Jayne Hrdlicka and Virgin Australia has pulled off an amazing job. Only time will tell if the model remains sustainable, particularly if another competitor enters the domestic market, which Australia so desperately needs.