Virgin Atlantic Announces Becky Woodmansee as Chief People Officer

Today Virgin Atlantic has announced a crucial appointment to its senior leadership team, as Becky Woodmansee takes up the position of Chief People Officer, from 2 December 2024.

As Chief People Officer, Becky will be responsible for ensuring the airline’s people can thrive at work, by creating inclusive experiences that energise its people and drive its vision to be the most loved travel company. She will report directly into CEO Shai Weiss, playing an important role in the Virgin Atlantic Leadership Team.

Becky joins from Whitbread plc where she has been People Director of Premier Inn & Restaurants UK for the past five years, a business with £2.8 billion in revenues and a workforce of 37,000 people. Becky has lived and worked internationally and spent her early career at NatWest, Unilever and Santander before moving to Home Retail Group plc, where she held a number of leadership roles including HR Director for the DIY chain, Homebase. Becky’s extensive experience, curiosity, passion for excellence and her people first approach will help foster collaboration and take performance to the next level.

Becky Woodmansee said: “I’ve long admired the people first ethos at Virgin Atlantic and the vital link between performance and delivering an elevated customer experience. I’m privileged to be joining as Chief People Officer and look forward to taking performance to a new level as we look to the future. I can’t wait to get started.”

Shai Weiss, Chief Executive Officer, Virgin Atlantic, said: “In our 40th year, we’re celebrating the red thread that sets us apart – our amazing people. Becky joins us at an exciting time on our mission to be the most loved travel company and our focus on people agenda, culture and performance has never been greater. Her extensive experience, curiosity, passion for excellence, and people first approach will help foster collaboration and drive our performance to new heights.”   

For further information please contact the Virgin Atlantic press office at press.office@fly.virgin.com.

About Virgin Atlantic  

Virgin Atlantic was founded by entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson in 1984, with innovation and amazing customer service at its core. In 2023, Virgin Atlantic was voted Britain’s only Global Five Star Airline by APEX for the seventh year running in the Official Airline Ratings. Headquartered in London, it employs more than 8,500 people worldwide, flying customers to 30 destinations across four continents throughout the year.   
 

Alongside shareholder and Joint Venture partner Delta Air Lines, Virgin Atlantic operates a leading transatlantic network, with onward connections to over 200 cities around the world. In February 2020, Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic launched an expanded Joint Venture, offering a comprehensive route network, convenient flight schedules, competitive fares and reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, including the ability to earn and redeem miles across all carriers.  Virgin Atlantic joined SkyTeam in March 2023 as the global airline alliance’s first and only UK member airline, enhancing the alliance’s transatlantic network and services to and from Heathrow and Manchester Airport.     
 

Virgin Atlantic has been pioneering sustainability leadership for more than 15 years, committing to Net Zero by 2050 and continuous action that reduces environmental impact.  The airline operates one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets in the skies, with an average age under seven years. In October 2022, Virgin Atlantic welcomed the first of 16 A330-900neos to the fleet, continuing its transformation towards 100% next generation aircraft by 2028.  In November 2023, the airline led a consortium to deliver the world’s first flight across the Atlantic on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), demonstrating that 100% SAF can be used safely as a drop in fuel in existing infrastructure, engines and airframes. The need to scale production is an industry imperative and Virgin Atlantic is committed to radical collaboration across the energy chain to support commercialization ahead of 2030.    
 

For more information visit www.virginatlantic.com or via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @virginatlantic.