Flybe in trouble again

[Boac]

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/government-flybe-rescue

[om15]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51140969

Mr O'Leary's letter describes the rescue as a "badly thought-out bailout of a chronically loss-making airline" and calls for any tax holiday granted to Flybe to be extended to rival operators.

"Unlike Flybe we all operate profitable business models (without the benefit of being owned by billionaires)" the letter says "We must be treated the same as Flybe if fair competition is to exist."
"Should you fail to confirm these facts within the next seven-day period, please be advised that Ryanair intends to launch proceedings against your government for breach of UK and EU competition law and breach state aid rules,"

Looks like the fat lady has not sung yet with this bail out.


Capes mentioned previously that if he were an employee he would be looking for another job, actually this has been on the cards for at least two years and many of my friends have done just that, so the problems have been added to by key experienced people leaving and the Company finding it difficult to replace them.

[Ibbie]

Flybe threatening to go bust AGAIN!

Beer flu being blamed.Bookings down. Looking for an immediate hand out from Government, possibly can't survive until next week's budget, when APD on domestic flights looks set to be reduced.

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-03-04/fly ... rus-fears/

Time for Government to establish an "operator of last resort" for domestic airlines, similar to that used for the railways, for essential routes?

[k3k3]

...and they're gone

[Boac]

Not QUITE! One still airborne. Sad day.

[Capetonian]

The tragedy is that about 1400 staff will lose their jobs (some deserve to), thousands of passengers will be inconvenienced and probably out of pocket, communities will be at least temporarily unserved, but the directors and fatcats responsible for this ongoing fiasco will walk away smug and unscathed.

An appalling airline but to many people an important one.

[TheGreenGoblin]

Fourth failed UK airline in 4 years... go figure...

Monarch , Flybmi, Thomas Cook and now Flybe...

[G-CPTN]

Do Uber do flights?

[Ibbie]

This notice about Flybe is on Blue Island web site:
https://www.blueislands.com/

[Ibbie]

It seems very "convienient" to put Flybe down at this time and use coronavirus as one of the excuses.

The former CEO,Christine-Ourmieres-Widener, described as an Organisational Change Expert, designing and implementing business innovation and optimisation strategies for the Travel & Transport Infrastructure; part in this mess will now come out, was taking out a large remumeration, as her 2018 reported salary shows:
https://www.erieri.com/executive/salary ... dener-al8c

There are many other questions though. Just a few come to mind.
Why were Flybe the only major operator of the Dash8 in Europe? Why have competitors not had this aircraft in their fleets? Operating costs?
Handling agent Swissport, always appeared to have a surplus of staff at Southampton, the cost of which was no doubt being passed on to Flybe. Was this the same at all bases?
Why were the Embraer190/170 fleet so speedily discarded? They appear to have been under utilised. The sun routes these aircraft operated on, as well as internal and Northern Europe flights, were discarded not once, but twice. If Flybe had percevered and used the 190s as a lowcost carrier would, they could have built a niche market from smaller uk airports by increasing routes, flights and destinations.

[AtomKraft]

Poisoned to death by their own management.

A very British end.

[barkingmad]

Having been in the shoes of airline staff who wake up one morning to the announcement that their crippled ship has sunk leaving them in the hostile waters of the jobcentre and all the distress of “WTF do I do now”, may I express my sympathy with ALL those affected.

The questions regarding the bosses’ remuneration and the business model will never be properly answered, though it’s good to see the queries asked in the glare of publicity. The ‘offenders’ will slither down the road in their self generated slime and unfortunately infect another airline or business and proceed to cause havoc again.

There’s a pub in/near Shere in Surrey with what appears to be serviceable wooden stocks outside the front door which would provide a template for more to be manufactured. And there’s always my portable guillotine proposal to be updated........

[G-CPTN]

Analysis of the airline's demise....
by Dominic O'Connell, Business Presenter, BBC Radio 4 Today programme:-

For the past 15 years Flybe has been trying to join the big boys of aviation, and failing.
The serious push came 10 years ago when it raised money with a stock market float, and set out a plan to become Europe’s biggest regional airline, flying mid-sized planes between secondary cities. The model works brilliantly in the US, where regional airlines, often flying as franchises of the larger network carriers, are a large and thriving business. It did not work - or at least Flybe did not make it work - in Europe.
Cash resources dwindle
It retrenched, and was left in the farcical situation of paying for a fleet of Embraer aircraft that it could not fly. They sat on the ground as the airline desperately tried to offload them. The remaining network was still too big, and cash resources dwindled. The airline came close to going under at the start of last year, but was bought by consortium of Virgin Atlantic, Stobart, and a financial investor Cyrus Capital.
They had conflicting objectives. Virgin was eager to preserve feed to its long-haul flights at Heathrow, and perhaps snaffle along the way some of Flybe’s valuable Heathrow slots. Stobart was eager to keep flights at its main asset, Southend Airport. And Cyrus thought it might make money if the business was resuscitated. But the trio were slow to act – a rebranding to Virgin Connect never happened, and losses continued to rise. A cold shoulder from the government and a rapid drop in bookings thanks to the coronavirus sealed the airline’s fate.

Worrying moment
For the airports most affected - Southampton, Exeter and Belfast City – this will be a worrying moment. There is not a queue of airlines wanting to pick up UK regional routes – and particularly not when the coronavirus has plunged the entire industry into uncertainty.

From (and more at):- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/business-51679904

[Pontius Navigator]

And the passengers are, or rather were, there. My brother in law works offshore in Aberdeen and commutes(d) from Newquay. On a different job Humberside was an easy flight as was driving to his mother's in Grimsby.

I think his rosters are two weeks, maybe three, off. Flying took no time out of his off time but if he has to drive that will certainly steal two days. He is 60 and will probably retire.

[Boac]

According to 'The Scotsman' (NB Paywalled), Loganair are looking to take over 16 FlyBe routes out of EDI and take on Flybe staff.

Interesting unsubstantiated snippet - flights from Aberdeen to Teesside, Wick, Newcastle, and Humberside are being told the flights are still flying since they are operated by Eastern Airways using a Flybe code. Not too sure how the ticket revenue there could be unpicked, though - Cape?
"

[Capetonian]

Don't know.

There are various types of code share/revenue sharing agreements, types of leasing (wet/dry/ACMI), leased space/blocked space, franchise agreements, etc.

Without knowing the arrangement, I wouldn't know where to start answering the question. It's very complex.

I would guess it's a franchise which allowed Eastern the benefit of access to Flybe's better known branding, reservations and ticketing systems, airport handling, through booking and luggage handling etc.

As Eastern didn't have their own systems, I am not sure how people can continue to book their flights, or who would handle them at airports but someone must have this in hand.

How the revenue sharing would work, no idea.

[Magnus]

Little bro was with Flybe. Job gone.

[Ibbie]

Tuff is that Magnus.

Is he able to apply for the jobs being offered by Loganair, with the 16 routes they are taking on?

Eastern are to operate Southampton to Manchester and Newcastle routes from next week. Eastern will have their own website booking/ticketing system up and running shortly.

[Boac]

Things are a little better than they were - 3 airlines now taking over the routes - LoganAir, Eastern and Aurigny.

[Capetonian]

I am not sure what the real impact of this will be, given that the article probably dramatises the reality, but according to the DT :

Race to rescue Flybe pensioners from financial ruin
The retirement fund is based in the Isle of Man, meaning it is not protected by the Pension Protection Fund

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... cial-ruin/

I somehow doubt if it means that the pensioners will lose all their accumulated rights, but if they lose anything, it exposes an exploited loophole in legislation if a company that operates and employs people in the UK can avoid taxes and liabilities by registering its pension fund in another financial jurisdiction.