Originally Posted by
Lapon
Advent are as locked in to the operation as QF are. If Advent want out of then I doubt it will be a case of selling anything to anyone, rather it will be a matter of paying QF whatever the penalty is to do it 'themselves' under whatever AOC that happens to be.
Heres some food for thought with Cobham Australia's 4 major contracts and charter business.
- July 2016, 10 year contract worth $1.2 Billion with Qantas for B717's. Qantas own all the equipment and metal etc etc. Qantaslink perform the maintenance in Canberra (apparently) and line support in Sydney & Melbourne. Hobart is done by Jetstar. Base Maintenance is carried out in Singas. The Flight attendants have been progressively transitioning to contract company Altara with the pilots all changing to QF uniforms a few years back. Qantas just shut down the Darwin B717 base, and are progressively using Network more and more on West coast ( they just advertised for A320 LAMEs Darwin and Perth). So what does that leave Cobham or a potential buyer? Well revenue of $120 Mil pa isn't much of an indicator on performance unless you have the outgoings too (under strategic review currently), and from what I understand the profit margin is very minimal, like near 1% so you do the math. https://australianaviation.com.au/20...obham-profits/
- The Border Force contract expires in 2020, with Cobham no doubt likely to receive a contract extension (with ageing aircraft, crew issues etc). Cobham will face significant competition for the rebid, and may not have the best relationship with the government if any problems such as flight crew shortages have occurred. http://www.defense-aerospace.com/article-view/release/67110/cobham-signs-a%241bn-coastwatch-contract-%28mar-6%29.html
- The AMSA 12-year, $A640 million search and rescue contract, quote " had brought a revenue benefit for the company". Once again, magic words with big numbers but people need profit margin. No good having 4 new aircraft that make you a loss.
- Australian Air Express - any little bit of research on the internet and you'll find plenty of news on Qantas B737's and A320s freighters and nothing on National Jet Express or Cobham suggesting nothing long term.
- Last but not least is the Charter - With a spate of recent incidents and an ageing fleet this sector faces stiff competition in the west against the juggernauts of Australia aviation and some local operators. Network, VARA, Skippers, Qantas, Virgin even Jetstar. The list goes on
Cobham do have a large footprint in Australia. infrastructure no doubt I'm sure will be snapped up.What is left you ask? Thats the question on everyone mind at Merrill Lynch Bank of America and Cobham UK