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SriLankan Airlines

Old 19th Oct 2009, 17:15
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Agree

Agree with 312.

Kflyer , sorry doesnt make sence to me .

All the best for UL anyway.
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 01:24
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If ABE is not owned, does it mean UL does not have any aircraft under ownership now ?
Who says BA & AI are on the way to recovery ? Not at all. AI would have been already bankrupt if not for the government loan agreed last week and BA is in the red 'as usual'. The airlines that are doing well are Ethiopian, Air France, RJ, Emirates and LAN. The ones that are recovering are MH, Kenya, Air New Zealand, the bunch of Chinese carriers and KLM to some extent. AI is in a historical financial grave.
I've not mentioned that UL should expand, but it should not downsize. Keep the current network and address the losses, there is a lot that could be done.
We need not to get into a battle for this.
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 07:47
  #143 (permalink)  
 
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Found a CEO

Since some of you have mentioned geting a new CEO y not concider Gen Fonseka for the Post.

If Gen Atygala was made the CEO during late 80 s , I feel Gen Fonseka could do a good Job .That could leave President not taking anymore aircrafts for his personal trips due to safety reasons( IF you know what I mean )

Have a Go on this Chaps!!!!!
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 09:43
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Aye aye justiceman. I think I know what you mean.
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 13:50
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I too believe that the only way Srilankan Airlines can survive the present crisis is to increase frequencies to key destinations. Thereby generating more revenue.

With no Government bailout and no investors, this is the only option left for the airline.

The airline is over staffed ... no doubt about that! The Management has to continue its effective cost cutting measures and open up routes that are viable for the airline. The expatriate pilot contracts have to be terminated, A320 utilisation has to increase, top management benefits have to be curtailed and the lucrative Indian destinations have to be re-opened.

So far, the management have been poor decision makers. The biggest blunder they made was to reduce flights to Indian destinations.

Flying Srilankan Airlines is not cheap. The Middle East Carriers cannot be competed with. But to survive - they have to remain in the market.
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 15:42
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Agree with you hands down, wetdrops. But no, UL will have to keep fares low unless the product is improved. I was told that expat pilots now get a lower wage, if this is true I believe they need not to be laid off ?
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 17:04
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Question!!!

KFLYER2, Do you really think just because expat pilots get a lower wage, they should be working here when there are hundreds of local pilots waiting for years to start their career??? Do you really think thats how it should be??? Also What you mean by a lower wage??? Compared to whom??? their previous wage??? Will they work for a lesser wage than a local pilot??? I think we should learn lesson from India (Atleast in this case as they have given a good example) and singapore...
I'm sure you are aware of that recruiting expat pilots is against the law in this country providing there are suitable local pilots to do the same job...So I really dont know why they still keeping them. Especially with the Mahinda Chinthanaya!!!
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Old 20th Oct 2009, 18:28
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@Kflyer2 When you wrote about ABE I thought you knew the facts. It looks like you wrote what you assumed. This is the issue that I'm talking about. Before you write ( on this forum or your blog) you need to do the proper research and get the facts RIGHT.

Well for the recovery of the airlines. AI and BA are recovering (but slowly) eg AI is switching most of its operations to 777s and getting rid of its excess fleet. BA is reducing the fleet and asking staff to work for free.Recovery from troubled times cannot be don overnight. It takes a lot of time and careful planning.

Some of the airlines which you mentioned eg AF and Emirates have differed deliveries and cut down frequencies and routes (a little bit of research you would have found it your self). So you can't call them as doing well. If they were they wouldn't have done that , now would they ?

The whole industry is not doing so well but. its getting better. Till it is, the best thing to do in my opinion is to run a lean and mean operation ( although I'm sure you will once again repeat your self saying downsizing is bad and market share will be lost bla bla bla....)
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 00:16
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funny

thats a funny comment!!!!

Heard the new Chinese Aircrafts will be given to Mihin Lanka.So will the A320 Pilots fly turbor props ? or the government will make the Airforce guys to fly them.Then there will be excess Pilots on A320 isnt it?
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 02:17
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UL312, sorry mate, it's you who are mistaken. Find the right facts. BA and specially AI, are through heavily turbulent times. AI is going to sell its fleet of 77Ls. And replacing 747s with 777s is not going to do them any good when they launch routes such as DEL-JFK-IAD. Like I said earlier, if not for the government bail out they would have already been history. Taking AI as an example of an airline recovering is hilarious. Where and when has AF and EK differed deliveries ? They have not, but even if they did, it does not mean they are doing bad. An aircraft differing does not come at airline's inability, but also because of a lack of a demand which is not the carrier's fault. And where have they cut frequencies ? From what I know both have increased frequencies and EK itself increased India to 182 weekly flights and launched a couple new destinations.
Re ABE, I was under the assumption that UL had at least one aircraft under its ownership.
Like I said earlier, we need not to get into a battle for this.
Plus, if you mean a lean operation, then expanding is a must because UL is overstaffed but cannot lay off either. Why don't you understand that UL cannot regain its market share if lost once ? Plus which other destinations are left to be cut ? Please present us your plan.
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 03:18
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@KLFyer AI is fully owned by the govt. So they will bail them out. Returning the leased 77Ls back to united and selling the older A320s and replacing the 747s with 777 is called downsizing.

UL have also been bailed out by the govt in the past.

Differing planes by major airlines ! what do you call that ? EK is an exception. Its sitting on a huge cash reserve (as well as a dwindling but still large oil reserve) .Its got huge govt subsidies and also has their unconditional support. It cannot be compared with the others. Same goes to Etihad and Qatar.

About ABE: the problem is, your writing evolves around your assumptions. Assumptions can be wrong and it can send out the wrong message if you write based on incorrect and unconfirmed facts.

So your solution is to expand the airlines because its over staffed ? that itself explains how pointless your theories are. This is the real world son ! Some staff will have to go , whether they (company) like it or not. Otherwise everyone might loose their jobs.

There are many airlines which have downsized and returned back to their previous glory. Its a matter of having a good fail safe plan. No matter how you say that It cannot be done "using you *expert* knowledge", IT CAN BE DONE.
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 06:11
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You call me not knowing the facts when you in fact do not. AI did not lease 77Ls from UA, that were the 772s. And AI is not selling any A320s either. AI currently does not have any proper business plan and is not on its way to recovery like you say.
The unfortune is, UL312, the UL management seems to be thinking along the same lines or even worse. No point in trying to explain it.
Downsizing could have worked, five years ago, but not now. Competition is fierce, specially in this part of the world. If you go out, that's forever.
What should be done is reducing and curtailing the costs, not the operations.
After all, what else has UL left to downsize ? Better close down all the routes and the company itself. End of story.
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 06:30
  #153 (permalink)  
 
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Once again a bit of reading would have saved you a lot of humiliation.

Air India to sell older A320s and return leased aircraft
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 09:56
  #154 (permalink)  
 
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Hey guys just hang on to your horses and stop this bickering ! There's no point in getting your knickers in a twist over comments made over a rumor network !

KFLIER you had put in some good and thought provoking comments so let's continue from there - may not be gospel truth as we all know......even the gospel is being challenged these days, mate so who cares?

As for BA and AI recovering...........well UL312, that's way off target brother. Just take it easy
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Old 21st Oct 2009, 11:33
  #155 (permalink)  
 
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If the management is serious about getting things done, then there's a great chance for them as GF is selling out its A340s. These machines are a bit old ( MSN 100s range ) but not old as ADA, ADB and ADC and would be available at very cheap lease rates. An excellent chance if they want to expand. They are wanting to resume ZRH, which I know. Leasing one and reshuffling the European network is a good thing. Finances won't be a problem thanks to the leaseback of A330s.
However, anybody got details on what's going to happen to pilots flying for MJ ? If I'm not mistaken, MJ is going to get a 737.
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Old 22nd Oct 2009, 13:55
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From the above posts I see (as usual) that where there are 10 pilots, there are 15 answers! Yet "Ours is not to reason why but our is just to sit and fly" We can't all be CEO's . It will be case of all Chiefs and no Injuns. When the times are tough the tough should get going. I agree with Moderate, don't feel when you got to think (and don't think when you got to feel.) Bickering gets us nowhere.

Have we got the 'Mangement' we deserve? Have we the thinking pilots done too little too late. Where is the ALPGSL? Should our thoughts be funneled though them?

By the way prural of aircraft is aircraft!
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Old 23rd Oct 2009, 00:49
  #157 (permalink)  
 
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Chinese Seat Plan.

So who will fly the new chinese planes.?

Heard they are brand new with 52 Seats ( around 10 rows ) and dont know whether they are made to the chinese specs ( they are short) of having close together.If Yes, then Mihin can remove every other row to leave some room for |Sri Lankans specificaton because We are Taller than the chinese.So Mihin will ended up with 25-30 seats ...

hmm then again it will be loss of taking 25 pax eachtime.Back to Sqaure One.Good point to get away from all the Mud in the Parliment though... ( Blame the Chinese Manufacturer)
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Old 23rd Oct 2009, 01:35
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Aren't they supposed to lease a narrowbody Western jet reportedly from a Malaysian company ?
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Old 23rd Oct 2009, 02:11
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The Chinese turboprops are going to be used by the air force for internal flying. I believe that Sixty seater a/c are too big fo such an operation.
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Old 23rd Oct 2009, 12:40
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I think they are going to get MA-60s. If so, no big deal as they are simply a different derivative of An-26. Sixty seats are fine for Sri Lankan domestic ops, only problem is that the operator doesn't have an AOC.
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