Is former Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah set to fly back to Rex?

Is former Virgin CEO Paul Scurrah set to fly back to Rex?
By Travel Weekly


Paul Scurrah has been laying low since exiting Virgin Australia late last year, but the speculation wheel has started to turn around his next role.

Earlier this week, Rex held a party at Sydney Airport to celebrate the launch of its Melbourne-to-Sydney service.

There were plenty of aviation bigwigs in attendance, including Rex deputy chairman John Sharp, Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert, Melbourne Airport CEO Lyell Strambi and Boeing’s Oceania boss, Brendan Nelson.

According to The Age, Scurrah was also on the guestlist for Rex’s party. However, the airline refused to confirm or deny that detail, or if he even attended, when asked by Travel Weekly.

While he wouldn’t have looked out of place at the event, Scurrah’s appearance (if he did in fact attend) might have set a few tongues wagging about whether Rex is set to welcome him back to the team in some capacity.

Scurrah was of course a founding director of Rex when the airline launched in 2002, and has been sitting on the sidelines of the travel industry since being replaced by Jayne Hrdlicka as CEO and managing director of Virgin in November.

It’s also worth noting that there would be a familiar face waiting for Scurrah at Rex if he was to join the airline, with former Virgin executive Ann Elliott appointed as its general manager of sales in December.

And, with Rex now seriously challenging Virgin and Qantas on the capital city routes (the airline just announced new services between Melbourne and Adelaide, as well as new Gold Coast services from Melbourne and Sydney), someone of Scurrah’s ilk would be a very handy hire, indeed.

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