Virgin Atlantic nearly went bust...

[Count von Altibar]

Sir Richard Branson has told Fox News that the airline could have disappeared had HBOS gone under. Article in Business Travel World.

Business Travel World - (http://www.businesstravelworld.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=7/EntryID=1192)

Shows just how fragile everything is at the moment in aviation and elsewhere...

[ETOPS]

Not released yet - however we made £37 million pre-tax profits in Q1 the first 3 months of 2008/9 year.

[Spaced Out]

Hey ETOPS,

Who is 'we' exactly?:ok:

[CABUS]

I remember hearing a quartly 600M pre tax profits for BA being banded about but that may have been last year.
I know another useless post by Cabus!!:ok:

[Poof in Boots]

This merely illustrates the risk to passengers booking with little airlines who put all their eggs in one basket.

Brannie didn't mention how much 'cash' there is behind VIRGIN, only the forward sales in the bank paid by passengers yet to fly.

Being a "point to point" operator with no shorthaul network to feed its international flights, plus having a fleet of thirsty four engined aircraft* (an A346 uses 8 to 10% more fuel than a B773), how vulnerable is VIRGIN to going under?

*In April 2007 it was reported in The Times newspaper that Airbus had advised carriers to reduce cargo in the forward section by five tonnes in order to compensate for overweight first and business class sections. The additional weight causes the aircraft's center of gravity to move forward thus reducing cruise efficiency.

[Tags]

Post on company intranet:

"Many of you will have seen over the weekend comments Richard Branson made in a Fox TV interview about Virgin Atlantic's deposits with HBOS.

He was making the point to the Government that it needed to look wider than personal bank deposits when it came to protecting individuals.

He said that Virgin Atlantic had a lot of cash deposited in banks, a large part of which was customer deposits for flights, hence the need for corporate as well as personal protection.

He got the number wrong in that we have a much smaller amount of cash deposited with HBOS and certainly not enough to threaten the company if HBOS had failed. We always spread our cash around and have very actively managed these funds over the past 4 weeks to ensure they were well diversified and deposited with the strongest banks."

[rogervisual]

What has been missed in all this, is how many airlines would have gone under if AIG had not been bailed out.

[levantes]

Good point!:D

[Deep and fast]

Virgin cannot go under!!

I need the eye candy in the Queens building. http://www.addemoticons.com/emoticon/animated/AddEmoticons04250.gif

D and F :8

[chickentikkamasala]

virgin is not in the queens building.

[boeingbus2002]

No they don't operate from QB but that is where the crewing department is located. If you have been around QB you will almost always see a see of red!

[chickentikkamasala]

No they don't operate from QB but that is where the crewing department is located. If you have been around QB you will almost always see a see of red!


Thats where I've been going wrong.:ugh:

[Airline Tycoon]

I need the eye candy in the Queens building

Make the most of it, as they are moving to a new Crew Centre airside in Termnal 3.

[Skipness One Echo]

an A346 uses 8 to 10% more fuel than a B773

The differential isn't that high at all, also it's worth learning that 773 is the rather rare the non ER version. You are possibly thinking of a 77W I think. Anyhoo why let facts get in the way of the view from the desert.....

As for the typical US biased view, I'd rather have a good and professional "little" outfit like VS than US Airways, American, United, NWA etcwho wouldn't know customer service if it ran itself up a flagpole, invaded a small country and saluted. Praise Jeebus

[Re-Heat]

It is a pity that some posters seem to think that the potential grounding of a strong, international business might be a good thing.

However, Branson's comments served a pertinent point - businesses are very much being affected by the banking system, which is affecting the real economy.

[luvly jubbly]

This is old news. He said all this on 11th Oct......

Sir Richard Branson: HBOS Collapse Could Have Wiped Out Virgin | Business | Sky News (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/Sir-Richard-Branson-HBOS-Collapse-Could-Have-Wiped-Out-Virgin/Article/200810215118262)

[Count von Altibar]

Missed that one as I tend to avoid Sky News. Maybe I should watch it in future. I guess Sir Dickie was making a point then about banking but it seems HBOS could have waved goodbye to his airline. I don't think any of us our particularly secure in the current economic climate, things are likely to get much worse in the near term.