Jayne Hrdlicka

Between 1987 and 1991 then again from 1997 until 2010, Hrdlicka held senior positions at Bain & Company, initially in the United States, then in Australia, after she emigrated to that country from the US in 1994 to take charge of a company producing sports trading cards in Sydney.^[8] She also held a senior position at Arthur Young & Company.^[11]

From 2010 to 2012 Hrdlicka was a senior executive at Australian airline Qantas. In July 2012, Hrdlicka was appointed group chief executive officer at Qantas subsidiary Jetstar, a position she held until November 2017, when she was appointed the CEO of Qantas Loyalty and Digital Ventures, the company within Qantas responsible for the airline's frequent-flyer program. She left Qantas in April 2018 and in July 2018 she became managing director, chief executive officer and director of The a2 Milk Company, a dairy company based in Auckland, New Zealand.^[10][12]

Her resignation from a2 Milk in December 2019 was the subject of speculation that the pace of change Hrdlicka drove was too fast or that the Board was dissatisfied with the scale of payments to the consulting firm, Bain & Company. a2 shares rose 40% during her 18-month tenure.^[13][14][15] Hrdlicka later stated she left a2 because her husband was found in November 2019 to have a kidney tumour, from which he eventually died in May 2023.^[6]

Hrdlicka was a director of Tennis Australia between January 2016 and October 2017 and was appointed Board President and Chair of Tennis Australia in October 2017, remaining in the role until 2025.^[5][16][17] She also served as a director at Woolworths from 2010 to 2016.^[10] She is a member of Tuck School of Business' Asian Advisory Board.^[18]

On 18 November 2020, Hrdlicka became the CEO of Virgin Australia Holdings (parent company of Virgin Australia, Qantas and Jetstar's main competitor) when Bain Capital took ownership of the airline,^[19] following the resignation of Paul Scurrah and the company's exit from administration.^[20] Hrdlicka announced her resignation as Virgin Australia's CEO in February 2024, and in March 2025, it was announced that current Chief Commercial Officer Dave Emerson would replace her in the role.^[21]

Following Hrdlicka's departure from Virgin Australia, it was announced that she had been appointed CEO of Endeavour Group, parent company of Dan Murphy's and BWS liquor stores. Hrdlicka commenced in the role in January 2026.^[3]

Hrdlicka was married to Jason Gaudin, an Australian who formerly worked as Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Australia & New Zealand at Wells Fargo Bank and who died from cancer in May, 2023.^[22] They have two sons: Alec (born 2004) and Josh (born 2007).^[6] Both sons have attended the Rafa Nadal Academy in Majorca.^[23]

The family's permanent residence is in Brisbane, where Virgin Australia is headquartered.^[6] Hrdlicka's previous home in the Melbourne suburbs was listed for sale in June 2022, with a sale price estimate of $18 million to $19 million.^[24]