kev35“Volunteer at Midland Air Museum, Coventry, UK since 1994 caring for ex 1TWU Hawker Hunter F6A “XF382″”
Pete B.
And cared for it is….. XF382 certainly does you great credit. If you come out the building by the Vulcan and then turn left it really does look striking.
I think great credit is due to all the staff and volunteers there. It certainly is a friendly place and I really like the fact that work is not only being done, it is seen to be being done.
Regards,
a regular, and very satisfied visitor.
kev35Ollie.
With all due respect would you have time to restore a cockpit section and to complete the Schneider Trophy book you were going to write?
Regards,
kev35
kev35“8. Forum personality of the year
The late Steve Young.”
He was always late whenever I was to meet him. Not much, just fashionably so. Sounds daft but I treasure the memory of a phone conversation with Snapper at Legends. We were slagging Steve off for not being where he was supposed to be. Little did I know I was talking to Steve all the time.
Such a pity that he wasn’t that bit later on July 24th. Haydn wouldn’t have lost his Dad, Julie wouldn’t have lost her partner, Steve’s parents wouldn’t have lost a loving son, we wouldn’t have lost a dear friend and the world wouldn’t have lost one of its outstanding characters.
No awards from me, just to say I enjoyed everything I saw and everything I did, Steve taught me that. Though devastated by your passing, our lives have been forever enriched by the privelege of having you as a friend.
One thing I will give thanks for, and that’s friendship. Those whom I am proud to call friend know who they are. Thank you to them for encouraging me to rediscover the joy that is Old Warden.
Regards,
kev35
kev35So, of the 30 scheduled services, just over 50% have been cancelled. That sounds bad, but, if you’re a cup half full kind of person, that means almost 50% of services have been operated. When you consider the turmoil AlphaOne has gone through since it’s first plans, perhaps operating almost half the services can be seen as positive. To know definitively, operating costs would have to be taken into account and compared to load factors.
What’s needed is for someone either for or on behalf of AlphaOne to provide the public with an honest assessment of the operation so far. Explanations from the airline might help increase customer support for the operation.
It would be interesting to know whether the lack of passengers is through poor marketing of the route, a knock on effect of past failures to start, simply a symptom of launching a new service in the week before Christmas or a combination of all these factors.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Go to Stoke and you’ll get PMT….
Regards,
kev35
kev35Go to Stoke and you’ll get PMT….
Regards,
kev35
kev35Airband1.
I am not suggesting anything illicit at all?
I’m just asking how and why a fairly simple operation as initially described by Mr. Halstead has been beset by such complexities. I am NOT party to any rumour whatsoever. The points I made are valid and at present no answers are forthcoming. I am particularly curious as to the apparent link between AlphaOne, Sky Commuter, Rangemile and the Nutricius Group.
I don’t think for one moment that Mr. Halstead is involved in anything underhand at all. However, I do not understand why someone being touted as the ‘Baby Branson’ (see heading on his own website) has had so many problems getting AlphaOne operational.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Information, misinformation, sources….
Aren’t you all forgetting the most important point? It is Mr. Halstead and AlphaOne who should be providing the information. He was happy enough to flood the media when he started this project. He’s been consistently blaming anyone but himself or the airline for the delays.
I would suggest that now is the time for Mr. Halstead to give definitive answers regarding the operation of AlphaOne and answer the many relevant questions which have been raised in this and previous threads.
As sandy has been in contact with Mr. Halstead more often than anyone else perhaps he would be considerate enough to pass them on to Mr. Halstead on behalf of the forum members. I have a few questions myself.
1. Why were initial announcements made about routes when it is now clear that the infrastructure was not in place to operate that route (Oxford – Cambridge)?
2. Why were so many changes made to the route structure before any operation took place?
3. Why was there such deliberation about equipment, ranging from Jetstream’s to Trislanders to Twin Otters, before settling on a Navajo Chieftain?
4. Was the frequent change in route structure due to failure in the marketing of proposed routes?
5. As has been alluded to today, is the lack of passengers on the IOM-EDI route a result of the filure to market the route properly? Or is it a knock on effect of AlphaOne’s previous failures to start routes as announced?
6. Is sufficient investment in place to secure the future of the airline?
7. The operation has been variously said to be financed by Mr. Halstead, by Mr. Halstead and investors, by individual investors and by the Nutricius Group. Would AlphaOne, without disclosing finances obviously, be prepared to divulge just who is financially supporting the operation?
8. Would Mr. Halstead care to tell us whether or not AlphaOne and Sky Commuter are the same operation?
9. If not, why has Mr. Halstead allowed Sky Commuter to take on the Oxford-Cambridge route which is due to start in February, when the terms and conditions on Sky Commuters website are headed AlphaOne?
10. Why was the equipment and operator switched at the last moment from Jetstream to Navajo?
11. Would Mr. Halstead care to elucidate what happened for the Jetstrean operator to be no longer involved.
12. Does Mr. Halstead expect the other routes announced to start as scheduled?
13. Is the website to be completed with all the links working in the near future?
14. Why has the online booking system not yet been made operational?
15. Is there any reason why Mr. Halstead remains uncontactable other than through the booking system? Why is there no email contact available?
16. Does Mr. Halstead consider the now limited operation between IOM-EDI to be a viable route?
17. Can Mr. Halstead reassure prospective passengers of the airline that flights on the current route and the others announced for the new year will operate as scheduled?
I’m sure others might be able to think of more so feel free to add to the list.
I’m sure everyone will agree that as Mr. Halstead has been only too keen to seek publicity in the past, now is the time for Mr. Halstead and AlphaOne to answer some of the questions posed and generate the operation some positive publicity by giving confidence to potential customers that the operation will run successfully from now on.
Regards,
Kevin Mears (kev35)
kev35Sandy.
The queries regarding AlphaOne’s schedules reveal one of the main problems with this fledgling airline. There is far too much information given at the stat which is counteracted by all the constant chopping and changing of route etc. Then, when the operation does start, there is NO information.
Do they fly weekends or not?
Is the website now completely moribund or will it be updated?
Will the new routes start with the promise of new equipment as stated?
Surely it would be beneficial to give definitive answers to the questions which arise regarding the operation? The lack of accurate information does not promote confidence in the potential customers the operation so desperately needs.
I’ll speak to Mr. Halstead or meet him if he wishes and to reiterate I will be open minded. But he would have to understand that I would expect straight answers to any questions I ask.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Sandy.
I said I’d visit his offices which were just about to move to Canary Wharf at the time. This was on one of the threads which was probably deleted long ago. I received no response from him. For the last few months he has been uncontactable.
“If it seems I’m supporting him, thats not my intention. I just want the other side of the argument to be seen as all I see here is the critics view. I guess I stand in the same position as canadair for the most part.”
All of us were open minded and wanted him to do well. The reason you’re seeing the critics view is for the simple reason that he has done nothing yet to be praised for. AlphaOne has not, by any standards, had an auspicious start and has lurched from crisis to crisis. The reason I was questioning the set up regarding Nutricius, Rangemile, Sky Commuter et al was to try and establish exactly how AlphaOne fitted into the scheme of things. Maybe you are right and that investors and other parties are at fault for the delays. However, unless anyone tells us different how can we criticise anyone other than AlphaOne and its management?
Please note it is possible to have a civil and courteous discussion.
Regards,
kev35
kev35If I criticise AlphaOne I at least try to give reasons for the criticism. I ask perfectly relevant questions about the tangled web AlphaOne has left in its wake. If Mr. Halstead were confident in his operation he would have no qualms in dispelling any of the negativity surrounding the operation. This does not happen. The reasons given for the constant changes or delays are always blamed on other factors. At no point has anyone from AlphaOne admitted that the whole operation has obviously not been thought through properly.
A hypothetical situation. BA are to start a route to a new destination. For arguments sake we’ll call it point A to point B. For whatever reason, they change the starting point, destination and start dates on numerous occasions. All the time BA’s CEO keeps the publicity machine rolling. Do you honestly believe that they wouldn’t come in for justifiable criticism? Alpha One are operating as an airline. Mr. Halstead is the driving force behind the operation. Who else is anyone to criticise for its failures or praise for its successes?
Regards,
kev35
kev35Sandy.
I may be one of his critics but certainly not the most vociferous. (Vociferous being the correct word to use in this context as voracious means something else entirely.)
Don’t worry about answering my questions, I am sure all the answers will be revealed when AlphaOne eventually meets its demise and investors start asking questions.
Toodle pip, old chap.
kev35
kev35Wrong season for this sort of news.
When is there ever a right season?
Very sad news, just makes us realise that there but for the grace of whichever deity we believe in go you or I.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Wrong season for this sort of news.
When is there ever a right season?
Very sad news, just makes us realise that there but for the grace of whichever deity we believe in go you or I.
Regards,
kev35
kev35Avgas.
How wrong you are. You’ll find I’ve been criticising the operation for a long time, nothing to do with hindsight.
Sandy.
“Au contraire, its the investors that have caused the most of these delays. Constantly citing new requirements or re checking this and that.”
In an industry that relies so much on safety, isn’t it only right that everything is done to ensure the safety and efficiency of the operation? One might suggest it was the role of AlphaOne and its management to be ‘rechecking this and that’, not the investors. Unless, of course, the investors feel the need to do this to verify the operation is being run satisfactorily.
Can anyone explain all the connections between skycommuter, the Nutricius Group and AlphaOne. Someone has said the Oxford Cambridge route is scheduled for a February start by the new airline SkyCommuter. The Sky Commuter website confirms this. As previously stated the terms and conditions page is headed AlphaOne. Nutricius Group lists AlphaOne as…
“Startup UK based regional airline. Nutricius Group has dealt with all airline infostructure and funding requirements as well as aircraft sourcing. Routing is expected to be announced shortly.”
There is a link to the still stagnant AlphaOne website. Nutricius Group are laso connected to Rangemile who operate out of Coventry. If Nutricius were responsible for ‘all airline infostructure (sic) and funding requirements as well as aircraft sourcing’, it seems odd that AlphaOne have had such problems obtaining aircraft and are now, if I remember correctly, leasing Navajo’s from a Company in Wales.
But, give someone their due, the airline has operated at least one revenue earning flight. Admittedly followed by cancellation of a flight the next day because of having no passengers. If AlphaOne can’t fill a Navajo, how did he possibly expect to fill a Jetstream?
Maybe passenger numbers will increase if AlphaOne can maintain a regular schedule thereby alleviating some of the negative publicity which AlphaOne’s repeated missed start dates and changes of route have no doubt engendered among their potential customer base.
And Avgas, why would anyone possibly be jealous of Mr. Halstead starting his own airline, when clearly it isn’t, and being so successful that the first flight takes place eight months after it was first scheduled and between a totally different starting point and destination. Mr. Halstead’s personal publicity machine has created a veneer of respectability. One statement by Mr. Halstead many months ago remains very telling….
“I am an airline pilot.”
How sad that he is later forced to admit he is no such thing?
Regards,
kev35
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