Flyglobespan Bust

[Garry Russell]

More Christmas misery for air travellers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edi ... 417183.stm

[VEGAS]

Another British Airline on the scrapheap. Saw one or two of their 737's at Manchester today.

[Garry Russell]

Did they fly out Eddie??

[VEGAS]

No mate. They were parked on remote stands for a few days. Probably in light of what was coming.

[Nigel H-J]

How sad Feel very much for those who lose their jobs but just before Christmas it must be terrible. Also feel for those who have paid for flights and have no protection from events such as this, there should be some sort of insurance that airlines can offer to cover for airlines going out of business or are passengers just oblivious to such events however unlikely they think it may be?

Nigel.

[Chris Trott]

Ususally, capacity permitting, other airlines will honor tickets already sold on an airline that goes under, especially those stranded mid-trip. For the most part, I don't think "insurance" is needed as long as the airline industry continues to have at least some semblence of "honor" in its ranks that allows them to continue doing things like that.

[Tomliner]

This is bad news for the local economy around here.I feel so sorry for those losing their jobs.Their head office is about a mile from here.Maybe that nice Mr Brown can find some money to help those made redundant from FlyGlobespan and the Corus steelworks at Redcar etc.We must have plenty of dosh,after all he just made a big show of giving well over a billion pounds to third world countries to help prevent global warming.Wonder how much of that will end up in private bank accounts? EricT

[speedbird591]

Dreadful news, both for customers and staff. The airline industry is in as much disarray as the banking system because of the financial bubble burst. It's not like previous recessions where you could tighten your belts, ride it out if you had some backing and then wait for things to return to normal. Normal isn't there any more and these two industries, more than most, will have to find new business models based on a new world order (which isn't yet obvious).

BA's problems go much further than the headlines. Two years ago the business model was sound and they were able to provide a much-sought-after premium service which was in high demand. After the crash, the demand suddenly disappeared and the business model is totally wrong. It's geared up for a service that nobody can afford. The aircraft are too old and expensive to run, generous pay and conditions that were affordable two years ago are now impossible to maintain and the route structure is too expensive. But there's no money to use for the re-structuring that is obviously necessary. I can't imagine what BA will look like in another two years.

Meanwhile Ryanair and EasyJet's business model, which nobody could understand a couple of years ago, has come into its own through this sudden change and I'm sure even Michael O'Leary is surprised by the profits that it's generating.

It's obviously the end of the full service airline and the final nail in the coffin of the romantic era of air travel. You could argue that the days of the big national airlines were already over, but until recently there was still a demand for that sort of service and people still wanted that link with the past. I think that's all been swept away now and cheap fares with a basic transport system is all the world can afford in the future.

I don't see how BA can adapt - it's looking like an old buffalo floundering about in lion territory

Ian

[Garry Russell]

Reminds me Ian, of all the big airlines and some smaller ones, of my childhood..they had always been there and they would always be there.

Pan Am, TWA, Swissair, SABENA, British United, Cambrian.......in fact most of the European and US carriers of the time that I knew so well form my book mags and model kits.....yeah, right

Those that still survive have almost collapsed, others have merged, most are on shaky ground.

The whole World changes and unless companies in any industry move quicky and in the right direction, then it's just a matter of time, some sooner, some later.

[speedbird591]

That's right, Garry. Those companies were so big and so much part of the establishment that you couldn't imagine the circumstances in which one could disappear. Until this strike announcement I never really contemplated the idea that BA could go broke - but with the total loss of public support in the last few days it now seems a distinct possibility

Now wouldn't that be a mess! There could be no advance warning and if it was announced that it couldn't honour its financial obligations the CAA would withdraw its operating licence immediately. The worldwide chaos would be horrendous.

Not to mention my World of AI set up at Heathrow

I'll go and think of something else.

Ian