Airlines on the edge

RE: Airlines on the edge

The only longhaul a/c BA are getting rid of are 10 747-200’s ( God knows how old!) and 6 B767-300’s. Considering they have just bought/leased 30-40 B777’s I don’t think you can really call these cutbacks!! In fact the bringing in of the 777 fleet seems to have been a stroke of genius as otherwise I’m sure BA would be trying to get rid of a lot more 747-400’s as part of their plan to reduce capacity (note not routes). Considering they can’t rid themselves of the 3/4 that are surplus to requirements that would have led to a lot of money sitting there doing nothing but costing interest!
Maybe it’s time BA gave us all free tickets again like they did in ’92
Toodle Pip.

RE: Concorde

ansett will fly again probably by the weekend i have just heard on australian news from sydney

RE: Airlines on the edge

My opinion is thatB.A.are using this as a front to do what they were already planning .It’s been known to most enthusiasts that they were retiring quite a few aircraft in the near future,but not replacing them (yes I know they’ve acquired some A319’s and some A320’s ),and that normally means staff cuts,then B.A. always did play dirty .I think most large airlines will streamline their operations until such times things get back to normal , whatever that is ,but there’s not much hope for the smaller companys I’m afraid.

RE: Concorde

last I heard BA hoped it would still be making a comeback in late October.

Concorde

Any one know how this has affected the Concorde comeback??

RE: Airlines on the edge

I think the only similar event the airlines have as a comparison is the Gulf War in the early ’90’s. Then, traffic dropped dramatically especially in the US Transatlantic market. Pilots were redeployed as cabin crew and huge cutbacks took place in the airline sector. The images of the last couple of weeks have been of several orders of magnitude more gruesome than in the Gulf and I’m sure the impact on Joe Public has been just as great and will continue to be for some time.
Speaking as somebody who flies professionally and was airbourne at the time of US airspace closure even my confidence in air travel has been hit hard and needed a good few days of soul searching (think I found one in the end!!) to straighten things in my own head.
I think the airlines have been spot on in their action (which coming from a strong union supporter and one whose job is at risk says something ) and I fear more may have to be done in the future. Better to build back from a previously reduced airline than to start from scratch. I just hope that all the airlines survive the storm and Continental,United and AA (plus the UK airlines of course) do manage to stay afloat.
Toodle Pip!

RE: Airlines on the edge

BA said that they might be forced to stop flying from Tuesday unless they were insured against terrorist acts.
BA and Virgin threatened to ground their fleets after insurers massively increased war liability cover.But the government has stepped in and have reached a new third party insurance for war and terrorism.
Will Concorde be flying now before the end of the year?

Regards Saab 2000

RE: Airlines on the edge

the news is not good as insurance companies will only payout one hundred million dollars for terrorist attacks now so govts are going to have to underwrite airlines and if it doesnt happen its byebye to airtravel and i think oyu will find delta and continental are close to going bust and northwest also

RE: Airlines on the edge

Well, of course airlines are business to earn money. But I think it´s too soon, to cut as much jobs as they are doing. I think this is a bad moment and confidence will come back to passengers. Who can avoid flying nowadays?. Many airlines are earning money, and talk about job cuts to earn even more. The solution to cut cost would others:
-Ask for a tax reduction is airport fees.
-Lower the price of tickets in some routes (still incredible high).
-Go on investigating in new resources of energy. We have to consider that it means the major portion of the operating costs.
-Better fiscal treatment of airlines by the statal tax offices.
And so on. I don´t want to say that many don´t need to get rib of jobs and that traffic has lowered. But come on….only 9 days since the attacks…are the figures so wrong by this?. I have been at my city airport this morning and talked to the employees and have seen myself that flights are leaving with the same occupancy, and Iberia is thinking about job cuts.

RE: Airlines on the edge

What excuse the airlines are giving for losses is that passengers are feeling scared of flying after the attacks which i think is rubbish. The airlines are still minting money as usual in the western coast and also in central America. Then whats all the fus about. I agree that airlines have got a good excuse now for layoffs.

RE: Airlines on the edge

LAST EDITED ON 21-09-01 AT 10:45 AM (GMT)[p]Chaps,I hate to state the obvious but airlines run on a commercial basis. If they don’t make money,they don’t survive,simple as that. When airline bookings are at least 30% down on transatlantic routes (where BA makes most of its profit) you cannot survive by bimbling on as you were beforehand.What is the point of flying an unprofitable route while having your profits drained by doing it? That is why Virgin have been so succesful in the past because they have only taken on the routes which make money…JFK,CPT,IAD and the like. BA have tried propping up some of their Caribbean routes using the AML solution but on most of the routes there is no demand for First or business hence the low cost,high density charter airlines have done well.
Sure,the airlines were looking to cut routes/workforces down before Sep 11th…BA had announced job cuts already but to accuse them of playing dirty is not fair. I would rather have a smaller operating airline like BA/BMI/Virgin than one about to go bust like Continental/Midwest or Gill Air over here..do you not agree?
Sorry for ranting on a bit.
Ta Ta!

RE: Airlines on the edge

I am sorry to say that I think you are right. Most airlines are in some kind of financial trouble so as you point out this is a good time for them to cut costs by giving lots of people the push and dropping unprofitable routes. They then can put the blame on “these uncertain times”.
Will Boeing move the B717 production line to Seattle to save themselves even more money or will either Boeing or Airbus open factories in places like China where wages will be just a fraction of the western workers.

RE: Airlines on the edge

It´s too soon to say if airlines are going to be permanently harmed. I think many are playing dirty. Most wanted to cut jobs and this is a good excuse.

RE: Airlines on the edge

BA cutbacks:
*5,200 new job losses
*1,800 already announced
*20 aircraft withdrawn
*10% cut in flying

More cuts expected:

Lufthansa cut three of its transatlantic routes and said it was freezing hiring.

Sabena has said that it will not last beyond the end of the year unless it manages to restructure.

SAS, which saw its entire board resign on Monday due to an unrelated cartel scandal, said it would cut capacity in relation to the US crisis.

Aer Lingus announced that it was to cut its operations by 25% and would let go more than 600 temporary staff.

Air France said it was freezing hiring and retiring 17 planes from service.

Swissair said the freezing of air travel last week cost it 65m Swiss francs ($41m, £28m). It expects its transatlantic passenger numbers to fall 10-15%, and will announce restructuring measures in October

Gill Airways,has ceased trading, blaming the uncertainty created by events in the US.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1553000/1553676.stm#bo…

Find out more on the BBC website.

Regards Saab 2000