Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingsford Smith) and local rival Virgin Australia (VA, Brisbane International) have ended a long-running legal dispute over a defecting employee which at its nadir, involved calls for jail time. On Friday, October 7, both airlines agreed to end the matter with both parties paying their own costs.

The dispute concerned former Jetstar Japan (GK, Tokyo Narita) CEO and longtime Qantas employee Nick Rohrlach who jumped ship to Virgin Australia in late 2020 to become head of Velocity, that airline's loyalty program. Just before leaving the Qantas Group, Rohrlach had accepted a senior position in their loyalty division, leading to claims he was going to Virgin Australia with sensitive commercial information.

A spate of employee poaching by Virgin Australia at the time under new CEO Jayne Hrdlicka lead to a deterioration in the relationship between herself and Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce. Previously, they had been on friendly terms and Hrdlicka, a longtime Qantas Group employee, had acted in various roles at the airline, including as Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) CEO.

In addition to a six-month gardening leave clause, Qantas moved to enforce a ten-month non-compete clause in Rohrlach's contract. Rohrlach and Virgin Australia went to court arguing the ten-month non-compete clause was unlawful. The matter was heard in Singapore, where the original contract was signed. Qantas was initially successful in winning an injunction preventing Rohrlach from starting his new job until at least May 2021.

Rohrlach was later fined AUD27,000 Australian dollars (USD16,920) after Qantas showed Singapore's Supreme Court a series of text messages between himself and Hrdlicka that revealed the pair discussing Virgin Australia's loyalty business in contravention of a court injunction. The fine fell short of Qantas' call for jail time.

By September 2021, Rohrlach had served out his non-compete term and began his new role. However, the original dispute over the contract's terms remained unresolved. With an impending trial and Rohrlach firmly embedded into his new role, the two airlines agreed to terminate proceedings.

"The restraint period was effectively served through the process notwithstanding the fact Mr Rohrlach was found in contempt of court during that time,” said Qantas in a statement. Virgin Australia confirmed both airlines would pay their own costs and that no damages were payable.