Saw a table of comparison the other day of various liquids in common and everyday use. Turns out that just about the cheapest was fuel, both petrol and kerosene and the most expensive was printing ink!
This sounds like one of the first sensible decisions from BA in a long time. It is also brave. To state in advance that they will cut back services - rather than have to cut them at short notice, is exactly what pax (and shareholders) need. Then they can adjust schedules and make alternative arrangements for those that have already booked. Others will follow but not might give so much notice as they try to tough it out.
Tough times ahead.
Oil price rise has to be passed on to customers. Cost of flying will rise.
Passengers will absorb some of the costs but people will fly less.
An overcapacity situation will lead to reduced profitability for airlines.(Or even worse losses for some!)
Airlines must not take their eye of the ball-profitablility should be the single financial priority.
Profit will allow BA to re-equip with more fuel efficient aircraft in the future.
Willie Walsh signals in advance that he will consider parking aircraft sends out a clear message:
-He is pro-active in maintaining BA as a profitable business!
This ia a great sign for shareholders and employees.
Maybe Willie Walsh is not doing so bad now-
-Accepted responsibility for T5. Ready to sort it out.
-Dropped his bonus
-Presided over a record profit
-Committed to future profitability
-Needs now a solution to the 'Open Skies' situation
He has come in for a lot of criticism lately, maybe time to give him a little slack...
It is at times like these , that all aviators should reflect on the viability of their current employer to weather the approaching recession .
In 92 a fair number of us thought we were safe in Dan Air because Air Europe had left the scene , only to be undone by skullduggery masquerading as 'downturn' .
Luckily , I spent the next few years with a National Airline in a hot place whose whispered motto was ' Recession , what recession ?'
So , any of you waverers on the question of 'To go to the sandpit or not to go ' should re-examine their options and how green the grass really is.
BA-HAJ,
Now that would be really interesting.
Lets see how they handle the 10- 20 ton over max gross weight takeoffs, ,barely clearing the lights after rotate, passengers using the seats for toilets, fighting in the cabin, overheads overspilling with zam zam water etc.
Flight Duty days in excess of 30 hours.
Come on BA show us how its done properly!
What makes you think BA would know anything about flying the kind of sh*tkicking Hajj operation you fly Earl? The frightening thing is you seem proud of it!
I don't think BA will be doing Hajj any time soon, although your concern (which I think it is) is appreciated. It would cost far too much to refit the aircraft with 400+ economy seats, not to mention that they'd never get the cabin crew to do it (plenty have in the past and know exactly what it entails). There's also the fact we don't go anywhere near Saudi due to the massive bullseye painted on the side of the aircraft. *
... and funny enough, they still look for pilot applications (according to Flight International adds). I wonder how many of those will see a flight deck from the inside after their ground school.
Not because of the oil price, oil hits all airlines more or less the same. Judging by its annual results, BA seems to do quite well at the moment compared to the rest of the industrie.
But where is BA heading to? Aviation is a growth business, and BA has severe problems of growing due to capacity constraints at its main hub. Combine this with the recent loss of its oligopoly on its core routes, one might reasonably ask where the company is heading to longterm-strategically.
Then there is also the obvious lost operational-organisational culture, where inefficiencis, bad processes and break down of management-employee relationship seem to be the norm and hinder front-line staff to deliver a stream-line product.
WW seems busy playing the big beancounter, instead of setting strategic nails by finding real solutions to the above problems while involving its most important and powerful workforce to go with him.
I seem to remember similar forecasts of a dire future back in the 1980's with extrapolations and "guesstimates" being hurled around like confetti which gathered a momentum of their own. The fact is that oil reserves are plentiful but we have to decide how we wish to use them.
The oil sands and oil shales of North America and Canada have 100's of years capacity at current usage rates. It used to be forecast that at $25 dollars a barrel it was economical to extract it. Obviously that has risen and I believe it was based on using oil to produce steam to make the oils flow. However, I also understand that they are seroisly considering placing a nuclear power station within or close to the deposits for non-oil energy to create the steam. Man will find a way believe you me. Also we are beginning to realise that oil is still the best TRANSPORTABLE energy source and that to use it in any fixed ground based installation is absurd.
There will be changes but at $150 per barrel you can bet your life that the oil industry scientists are motivated to find further suppies. The danger of course is if the price should suddenly drop - but then we are back to square one.
Oil panic
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