Virgin Australia signs up for seven more 737s, advises all staff they will be re-employed by December

Virgin Australia has signed up for seven more Boeing 737-800NGs and has advised all staff that they will be re-employed by next month. To meet anticipated demand on the back of rising vaccination rates and open borders, the airline also says it will need another 600 workers. Over the last 12 months since its re-launch, Virgin has announced it will grow its 737 fleet by more than 45 per cent, from 58 aircraft to 84 aircraft with the additional seven aircraft announced today. An additional two A320s also have been recently added to VARA, the group’s West Australian resource operation, bringing its total A320 fleet number to seven, along with 11 Fokker F100 aircraft. Speaking at a staff event at Virgin’s Brisbane hangar, chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka thanked staff their dedication, loyalty and support since the airline’s re-launch. Ms Hrdlicka said it had been a huge year for the airline in so many ways “and it wouldn’t have been possible to be in the position we are today, standing here, more competitive than ever, marking one year since our re-launch, if not for our amazing people.” She said that the entire workforce would return by next month, and that Virgin has close to 600 roles advertised across five States to support the introduction of new aircraft, including in engineering, pit crew, cabin crew and corporate.