Originally Posted by
virginblue
Not sure why they went for the BE brand at SEN in the first place. Maybe EI was unwilling to franchise its brand for an UK-based operation - or it was more expensive than BE. With the exception of the domestic destinations where Flybe has a sizeable presence, there was relatively little to gain from the BE brand as most of Stobart's destinations do not have Flybe services.
I honestly wouldn't want to run flights in the UK in that market any way other than under the flyBe brand. Not having any brand awareness has been the undoing of CityJet (and many others) in a post-travel agent world. There is limited room in people's memories for brands, and flyBEs is widely known, well advertised, and harmlessly neutral.
That said, an excellent second choice would have been Eddie Stobart, with green planes and adverts on lorries...