Originally Posted by
2Para
would you not rather have a spare 'standby' aircraft hanging about than incurring compensation claims?
TUI do have standby aircraft. Officially, a 757 and a 787-9. They just don't have one at every base, and with the Max issues and the wet lease operations' reliability a mixed bag, they're far more active than the company would want.
Originally Posted by JonnyH
But that is exactly where you’re wrong. Jet2 DO have a sustainable business model which is outdoing TUI & TCX. I would much rather be a Jet2 passenger than a TUI passenger this summer that is for sure!
Jet2 don't have 9 (plus additional group aircraft) aircraft grounded at short notice for reasons outside of their control. Having spare aircraft lying around and aircraft doing one rotation per day is sustainable whilst they are cheap and/or owned. Once the 757s and -300s have disappeared, and the majority of the fleet is made up of factory fresh or relatively new NGs, this model becomes unsustainable. Note that they don't have a full time standby aircraft at STN, as this base is made up completely of new deliveries - also notice how the majority of their "great flight times" out of STN are now 6am departures and 2-3am arrivals like the rest of the industry. New aircraft cost money and need to be flying to be profitable.
But actually I have nothing against Jet2. Merely stating that their punctuality is assisted by the fact they have many standby aircraft dotted around, which is unsustainable long term.
Originally Posted by JonnyH
It is all good and well saying Easyjet cancel flights, BA do etc but that isn’t a direct comparison in my opinion.
Yes it is. Whether a passenger flies with easyJet, BA, TUI or Bongo Bongo Airlines, their intention is to get from one place to another. easyJet and BA cancel flights and leave you with the option to rebook on the next available flight or get a full refund. If the next available flight is in a week, that's your holiday ruined, and there's a good chance you wont recoup all of your consequential losses either. TUI don't cancel the flight, and whilst sometimes their customer service in such scenarios may fall short, I'd far rather lose one day of my holiday than all of it.
Originally Posted by TSR2
Don't think anyone is disputing this.
Evidently you do, because the punctuality statistics that you quoted don't include cancellations. I could start Air Vokes, put 20 flights on sale, cancel 19 and operate one on time and, voila, 100% punctuality.