Virgin's silly airline games with $90m in COVID credits

Virgin Australia faced scrutiny over how it handled COVID-era travel credits, with a headline in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph claiming the airline had “backed down” on plans to keep $90 million in credits. The dispute centered on vouchers provided to customers whose flights were cancelled during the pandemic. While the report used the wording “backdown,” the article says Virgin CEO Dave Emerson did not reverse the decision to retain the credits. Instead of letting them expire on June 30, Emerson extended the deadline for customers to use the credits until May 2027. The key condition remained that customers needed to book flights before June 30 for the credits to remain valid.