Keith’s picture reminds me of the west park at LGW when Air Europe went under. It’s always sad to see an airline go, especially for it’s own people and others reliant on it for employment.

Whilst it seemed to be a very well run outfit it has to be said that the Baby business model wasn’t great, effectively being a loco with legacy overheads inherited from when it was formed out of British Midland’s regional bases.

Whilst it’s true that IAG never wanted to buy Baby and it didn’t fit with their business model in the UK I think they and BA have made a good effort to find a new owner. One of my neighbours is a project manager with BA and even he admits to being surprised at the efforts they went to. Apparently they even offered to pay the costs of integration to one UK airline that would have seemed a good fit (he wouldn’t say but I’m guessing Jet2) if they took it on. But the fact remains that their are plenty of used 737s on the market and Baby flew to/from airports that aren’t slot restrained, so if that’s the market you want want to be in you wouldn’t do it by buying an airline with debts and overheads from a legacy history, especially as TUPE laws mean a lot of those costs would have to remain. It’s unsurprising really that neither LH or BA could find a buyer, but very sad nonetheless.

I for one send everyone that was involved with Baby all the very best during a difficult time and good luck for the future.