A New Era In Australian Air Travel – A ‘fare’ go.
Brett Godfrey is the man heading up the team that brought Australia an entire new concept in air travel, a low fare airline with that unmistakable Virgin flair and style. As the CEO of Virgin Blue, his mission is to provide travellers with affordable, fun and friendly travel on an airline that offers outstanding service second to none.
He was educated at Victoria University in Melbourne where he graduated with honours with a Bachelor of Business Degree. He then went on to qualify as a Chartered Accountant with Touche Ross where he also spent time working in the firm's Canadian office.
The aviation bug bit him soon after when he returned to Australia and joined Sherrard/National Jet in Melbourne as its Financial Controller.
Brett's Virgin career begin in the early 90's when he moved to the UK to join the hugely successful airline Virgin Atlantic, the premium International carrier based in London, as Finance Manager.
After three years in that role, Brett moved to Belgium and his next challenge when he was hand picked to represent Virgin's interests in the acquisition of a new European low cost airline - Virgin Express. He was part of the team that took the airline public in 1997 and following that, was promoted to Chief Financial Officer.
In 1999 Brett teamed up with Richard Branson and Rob Sherrard (Virgin Blue's Deputy CEO) to plot a surprise announcement of Virgin's bold plans to come Australia's newest and most innovative airline. Brett's experience in both the premium and low cost markets perpetuated his passion for the aviation industry and led to the plan to shake up the cosy Australian duopoly that had long held travellers to ransom.
In early 2000, Brett moved his wife and two children from Brussels to Brisbane and set up Virgin Blue's headquarters. The airline launched on August 31 2000 with two aircraft and one route (Brisbane-Sydney). Today, the carrier is one of the most successful low fare airlines in the world and has been recognised with numerous awards. These include:
- Best Low Cost Carrier (TravelQuality.com Aviation Awards 2003)
- Best Low Cost Carrier - Australasia (Skytrax Regional Best Airline Awards 2002)
- Best Customer Service Provider in the Australian Travel & Transport Industry (Teleperformance CRM Grand Prix Awards 2001/2002)
Brett has also won a number of awards including:
- Centenary Medal 2003 for services to the QLD Tourism industry
- CEO of the Year 2004 for the Customer Service Institute Awards
- Outstanding CA in Business Award 2003