John Thomas

John Thomas, former CEO of Virgin Australia Airlines and senior advisor to the world’s leading airlines, brings to Spike Aerospace his 40+ years of leadership experience in the aviation industry. He also serves on the board of directors of Icelandair and Sky Service (the largest FBO and corporate aviation operator in Canada). In addition, Mr. Thomas is a Senior Advisor with McKinsey & Company, Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners (operator of the Billy Bishop Downtown Toronto Airport terminal), Plusgrade and CAPA Centre for Aviation.

Mr. Thomas, a commercial pilot, launched a small regional airline in Australia in the late 70s. He then went on to become senior advisor for over 25 years to many of the world’s leading airlines including Delta, United, JetBlue, Alaska, LATAM, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates, British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic. His work included the merger between Delta and Northwest Airlines, the introduction of ancillary revenues to legacy airlines around the world, the successful establishment of JVs between major airlines and the re-configuration of Frequent Flyer programs. In addition, he worked extensively in the B&GA space advising companies including Piper Aircraft, Vistajet, Flexjet, Flight Options, Landmark, Standard Aero, BBA and Signature Flight Support.

Most recently he was CEO (and AOC holder/accountable executive) of Virgin Australia Airlines, a $US3bn turnover airline with aircraft ranging from B777-300ERs down to ATR72s. John Thomas now serves as CEO of Waltzing Matilda Aviation LLC a corporate jet charter/aircraft management company based in Boston.