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Carla Jayne Hrdlicka (born ) is an American-Australian business executive based in Australia. She is currently the chairman and Board President of Tennis Australia, having been appointed in October 2017. It was announced in April 2025 that Hrdlicka had been appointed CEO of Endeavour Group, to commence in 2026.
Hrdlicka has led several Australian and New Zealand companies as CEO, including Jetstar, The a2 Milk Company and most recently, Virgin Australia.
Hrdlicka attended Newton High School in Newton, Kansas; during her high school years she became the Kansas state champion in the sport of tennis. She went on to college in Colorado after high school, graduating from Colorado College in Colorado Springs with a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics and economics. She also holds an MBA from Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
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.
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. 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.
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. She also served as a director at Woolworths from 2010 to 2016. She is a member of Tuck School of Business' Asian Advisory Board.
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, following the resignation of Paul Scurrah and the company’s exit from administration. Paul Scurrah resigns as Virgin Australia chief executive News.com.au 15 October 2020 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.
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 will commence in the role in January 2026.
/ref> They have two sons: Alec (born 2004) and Josh (born 2007). Both sons have attended the Rafa Nadal Academy in Majorca.
The family's permanent residence is in Brisbane, where Virgin Australia is headquartered. 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.
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