When Terminal 5 (T5) was opened at Heathrow Airport on 27 March this year, by Queen Elizabeth II no less, officials at British Airways (BA) and the British Airport Authority had no inkling of the chaos that would ensue. By mid-April some senior officials had been fired, 300 flights cancelled and some 20,000 bags misplaced. The hi-tech airport expansion project had been an utter fiasco and BA took a hit of £16 million (around Rs136 crore) in losses from disrupted operations.
While T5 became the butt of jokes and comedy routines worldwide, Steve Ridgeway, CEO of Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA), was quite pleased with himself. Four months before T5 was complete, Virgin had announced the opening of the cheekily named “Terminal 6” at Heathrow to support all VAA flights.
Calling the revamped old Terminal 3A the “new Terminal 6” is exactly the sort of gimmicky campaign to be expected from Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin stable. And who needs the queen when you have the Spice Girls to open Terminal 6? When Ridgeway talks of that and other old war stories over breakfast at the Hotel Intercontinental in Mumbai, there is an unmistakable gleam in his eyes.
VAA, the jewel of the Virgin group, operates 37 planes connecting more than 30 destinations from its headquarters in London. Ever since it began operations in 1984, the airline has managed to be at the cutting edge of innovative marketing tactics, “Terminal 6” being just one instance of it.
Plane facts: Ridgeway often travels incognito in rival airlines to check on their quality. (Illustration: Jayachandran / Mint)
Ridgeway sits across from me at one of the corner tables at the hotel’s coffee shop. The floor-to-ceiling windows frame a spectacular view of the sea by the Marine Drive. Which is, in a way, a perfect setting to sit and talk about Ridgeway’s story.
That is because this highly regarded aviation CEO wasn’t a man of the skies to start with. Ridgeway had his fortuitous meeting with “the bearded one” not in the air, but while making and selling boats. And prior to that, Ridgeway was part of the short-lived Toleman Formula One team that introduced a talented driver called Ayrton Senna to the sport.
Come to think of it, Ridgeway has absolutely none of the well-earned civil aviation stripes of contemporary airline CEOs.
Ridgeway speaks with a slow, measured semi-whisper that is all business but with none of the airs of a high-profile CEO. He is dressed casually, too: a spotless white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, navy trousers and adequately shiny shoes.
Waving out to a waiter, he asks for a glass of grapefruit juice. A small drama ensues, as the waiter runs back and forth for clarifications with the kitchen. Finally, Ridgeway settles for pineapple juice.