Oh my God, not that damned Concorde program with me in it again, surely??? 🙁 :rolleyes:

If one of the programs included the some footage of some photographers on Howard Beach in New York… 😮

Still not seen it myself… 🙂

Andy

Dreadful… Air Canada had a chance to come up with something bold, different and imaginative… But they came up with that! Hardly world-shattering and very unmemorable.

If I look at what fellow Star carrier United did, UA’s revamp is worlds ahead of what Air Canada have done.

Andy

Ren,

You may be right. However, Ryanair have demonstrated what I’d regard as “sharp” business practices in the past and have gotten away with it. If they are again demonstrating “sharp” business practices and this winter those practices come back to bite them on the ass, well maybe they’ll show a bit more humility and compassion in future – its high time something like that happened. MOL predicted a blood bath amongst the low-fare carriers this winter and I think he’s correct in suggesting that, and if Ryanair has to share some of the pain then that’s mighty fine by me.

If what I read is correct – that Ryanair haven’t hedged any fuel this winter – then thats not going to bring Ryanair down in any case because their reserves are strong, but I think it’ll lead to them offering far fewer cheap fares, and if it also severely dents their cash reserves so be it.

(Just as an example of what I’m talking about, consider these figures from report I read late last week… Southwest have hedged 80% of their winter fuel needs at $28 a barrel, whereas United have hedged none of their fuel and are therefore subject to market forces with trading currently standing well above $50 a barrel. Guess which out WN or UA are going to come out of the winter with the better balance sheet)

I think (hope) MOL and Ryanair are in for a rougher ride this winter than they might have hoped for. First there’s the union thing, and secondly they’re not hedged on fuel for the winter (whereas Easy are said to be 50% hedged) – a high oil price throughout the forthcoming low season and a few employee relations problems could easily wipe the smile off MOL’s face.

Andy

Sadly 😮 yes I do :rolleyes:

* 1561 flights total (108 this year)
* 78 different aircraft types total (107 variants) (2 new types this year)
* 541 different aircraft registrations total (51 new aircraft this year)
* 140 operators total (11 new operators this year).

All courtessy of Microsoft Excel! 😀 Its getting to be quite a big spreadsheet! :p

Andy

1. (UA 747SP Friendship One) – San Francisco
2. (Continental DC-10s) – Houston Intercontinental
3. (American MD-80) – Hmmmm!
4. (JAL 747 parked) – Tokyo Narita
5. (JAL 747 taking off) – Tokyo Haneda
6. (Spanair A321) – Leeds Bradford(?)
7. (Britannia 767 and 757) – Corfu
8. (Air Canada A34) – Hmmmm! (guess Glasgow!)

Andy

If I drove a Micra (whether it was red or not), I don’t think I’d want anyone knowing that fact, let alone anyone spotting it!!! :diablo: 😉 😀

Andy

Fair enough, but remember that Singapore Airlines hold a 40-odd percent stake in Virgin Atlantic, and Singapore are Star Alliance members. Could mean nothing, of course, but you never know.

SQ hold 49% of VS, and SK and LH each hold more than 20% of BD. Working out and delivering shareholder value and return on investment for SQ, SK and LH when the merging companies are unlisted has been one of the stumbling blocks that has made this potential merger much more complicated than just a handshake between Sirs Mickey B and Dickie B.

Andy