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February 28th, 2009
It’s a day behind here so actually it is still February 27th in the US. The flight over was by far the best flight I have been on and I have done my fair share of travelling. It was a party nearly all the way.
Virgin staff are super friendly as always and the business class beds are great for sleeping on, as they lay completely flat, although not that much sleep was had.
I had some great conversations with Sir Richard and it was good to get some one-on-one time with him to discuss business, life and what’s happening in the world. I mentioned my goal of ensuring that a financial education should be taught at schools and my efforts to date to make this a reality. He gladly offered his name to be put behind any efforts
including my lobbying to Governments in Australia to introduce and expand financial education into schools for which his endorsement could be a great help.
Got to chat with Marcia Hines (singer and one of the judges on Australian Idol) – she is a truly beautiful soul with great energy and ever so friendly and down to earth. She mentioned she
wanted to get into public speaking and motivation talks so I said I’d consider inviting her to speak at our upcoming Women’s Academy Seminars.
I caught up with a Foxtel presenter who was part of the media crew on the flight who I had met last year when shooting a segment of ‘Your Money Your Call’ at Sydney’s Foxtel studios. He has a tough job getting flown to LA for the Virgin Parties and to report on V Australia’s launch on Sky Business News.
I do a quick interview with Channel Ten on the plane and back to the bar for more socialising. Having a bar on a plane is
such a great idea to break a long flight up and meet interesting people. There are some great photos of antics that occur on the plane that no doubt will end up on You Tube but I won’t go into detail.
Richard inspires me to have a lot more parties in my organisation as we discuss the value they add to a company and as a way of having your team bond better and enjoy their work.
At 21st Century we do have a lot of parties and team events which are a blast but Richard has inspired me to take it to another level as a way to boost a team’s performance and of course for the sake of enjoying life and work even more.
I’m sold on the concept and shoot an email off to my Operations Manager to organise more parties, especially launch parties for when we start new companies or release new products, even new books which I released four last year alone.
LA is surprisingly warm so I didn’t need to have packed winter clothes as much as I did. There is a press conference at the LA airport upon arrival and the Americans are excited to see a new airline from Australia especially in light of the fact their economy needs all the new business it can get.
I meet an enterprising entrepreneur who is patiently waiting to pitch Sir Richard Branson about an idea for a product he’d like to have him promote. He figures his best chance is to try and get Richard’s attention for a minute after the press conference finishes.
My partner politely introduces him to Sam, Richard’s son who is 23 and a great guy who offers to take the product sample and show his dad later if he doesn’t get a chance to pitch his idea to
Richard at the airport.
Fortunately for the budding entrepreneur he gets Richard’s attention for 30 seconds to pitch his idea and he is happy for this chance to meet the rock star of the business world.
I give credit to Richard, that despite the thousands of people who have business ideas they wish to pitch or people that just want to meet him in general, he makes the effort to be courteous and friendly at all times. It runs in the family, as Sam being the son of a billionaire could have turned out to be a spoilt brat but he is so grounded, likeable, easy going and credit to his dad.
Due to a lack of sleep we head to our hotel to catch a few hours sleep before another big Launch party hosted in
Hollywood. Celebrities such as Drew Barrymore, Charlize Theron and Ashlee Simpson are expected amongst others at the party. Considering I think Charlize is one of the most beautiful women on the planet (apart from my partner of course) it should be another great party.
To collect your free bonus to continue your education go to www.TimeRichBook.com.au
I’ll Keep you posted.
Friday February 27th
We departed 3pm today on V Australia’s maiden flight with Sir Richard, Brett Godfrey, Catriona Rowntree, Marcia Hines and numerous other celebrities, media and Virgin staff. My partner is excited, as this is her first trip to North America.
The pre-launch party in Sydney last night was a blast. It was held on Cockatoo Island – a surreal setting on an abandoned island in the middle of Sydney Harbour where Hugh Jackman’s famous Wolverine movie was being filmed.
The logistics behind the event was certainly appreciated by myself considering the amount of logistics and pre-work required to run the seminar division of my company.
The pre-launch party consisted of 1000 people ‘ferried’ to Cockatoo Island from Circular Quay. I was able to chat to Derryn Hinch on the ferry who had travelled from Melbourne to be at the event and he seemed like a nice guy.
We were fortunate enough to have access to the VIP area at the party and met many interesting people, including numerous actors and actresses who apparently are TV stars on Home and Away and Neighbours. Friendly bunch and I promise them I’ll watch Home and Away and Neighbours at least once to check their acting talent. We also met up with some friends at the party, so it was great to reconnect and all in all it was a great night which finished in the early morning.
Thursday February 26th 2009
We depart the Gold Coast where I’ve recently moved from Sydney to live. I was fortunate enough to meet Sir Richard Branson a few times last year which was an absolute privilege as he has been a business role model for many years.
As a personal supporter of Virgin’s charities we have been invited to be part of ‘V Australia’s’ Launch to the world. ‘V Australia’ is a new airline, part of the Virgin family which will fly direct to LA. My partner and I will be on the very first launch flight with Sir Richard himself which departs tomorrow from Sydney International Airport at 3pm.
It wouldn’t be a Virgin Launch without the ‘parties’ and we are invited tonight to the pre-launch party in Sydney to celebrate. Sir Richard is renowned for throwing good parties and he himself knows how to have fun, so I am looking forward to a lot of fun tonight.
The new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft from Australia’s new international airline Virgin Blue’s ‘V Australia’ touches down at Sydney International Airport on February 09 for the first time. (Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images)
SYDNEY—V Australia’s first Boeing 777 jet has touched down at Sydney Airport, marking the launch of a new home grown international carrier on the trans-Pacific route between Australia and the US west coast.
The arrival of the new plane for the Virgin Blue offshoot airline on Monday is expected to spark a price war on tickets to Los Angeles as V Australia goes head-to-head on the route with Qantas, United Airlines and newcomer Delta.
On site to welcome the aircraft were members of V Australia’s 300 strong staff, Virgin Blue staff and corporate guests.
Representatives from the Yolgnu people, the traditional keepers of the Yiridaki (didgeridoo) were also present to give a traditional welcome to V Australia’s new aircraft, called Didgeree Blue.
On board the delivery flight check captain Andrew Grierson, a former pilot with Dubai-based carrier Emirates, said it was exciting to be a part of the launch.
“It’s an opportunity to be part of something new,” Mr Grierson said.
Before touchdown at 1010 AEDT the new plane – the first Australian-owned B777-300ER and the first aircraft of its type to operate on the trans-Pacific route – was due to make a low flyover of Sydney but did not do so due to low cloud.
The jet left the US planemaker’s home town of Seattle on Friday after UK billionaire Richard Branson, Chairman of the Virgin Group, attended a handover ceremony that was more like a beach party than an official delivery event.
Sir Richard, wearing board shorts and zinc cream, accepted the keys to V Australia’s new plane at the event in the Boeing hangar after frolicking with bikini clad women and US cheerleaders.
The aircraft then took off for LA with Sir Richard, Aussie celebrities including Nip/Tuck actor Julian McMahon and singer and actor Holly Valance, Virgin Blue staff competition winners and several reporters on board.
Upon arrival in LA, Sir Richard announced two new routes for V Australia – Melbourne to LA and Sydney to Johannasburg, South Africa.
“Recession … What recession?” Sir Richard said to a crowd of travel industry professionals gathered in LA to greet the plane.
“The way to get out of recessions is to try to expand out of recessions, create more jobs, bring airfares down and try to offer better quality of products.”
The self-made billionaire then departed on his private jet bound for his home in the British Virgin Islands, while V Australia’s plane prepared to depart for Sydney.
V Australia has ordered a further six of the jets.
The plane is owned by International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) and leased to V Australia.
V Australia received its first jet three months later than expected because of machinist strikes at the Boeing factory in Seattle
Sir Richard said in Seattle that if Boeing did not resolve its labour issues the company risks losing orders.
“The strike hurt hundreds of thousands of our passengers,” he told journalists.
“It messed up Virgin Blue in Australia, it ruined people’s Christmas holidays.”
But any concerns over potential future aircraft delays were overshadowed by Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey’s excitement about the launch of V Australia.
“This is a new airline for Australia,” Mr Godfrey said.
“Australia has never had a second international airline.”
Mr Godfrey acknowledged the airline was launching into a soft market, with demand for air travel declining because of the economic slowdown around the world.
But he told journalists Virgin Blue would not follow Qantas’ lead and undertake a capital raising in the domestic equity market.
“We’re not looking at that track,” Mr Godfrey said.
Virgin Blue’s balance sheet is under pressure with V Australia’s $65 million in start-up costs and load factors – a measure of paying passengers – at 40 per cent between now and June.
Mr Godfrey said V Australia would break even in 18 months and he expected bookings to increase once word got about about the aircraft’s features and fares.
“We will bring some healthy competition to the route,” Mr Godfrey said.
“The combination of our Virgin service and the outstanding features and comfort levels on board the B777 will be a winner on the trans-Pacific route.”
V Australia’s plane carries 360 passengers in a three class configuration – business class with lie-flat seats, premium economy and economy.
The aircraft boasts two in-flight bars, cutting edge in-flight entertainment systems from Panasonic and mood lighting throughout the cabin.
V Australia will make its debut commercial flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on February 27.
Brisbane-LA flights start from April 8 and Melbourne-LA commences on September 15. The Sydney to Johannesburg start date has yet to be set.
A Day In The Life Of Jamie McIntyre 