Originally Posted by
True Blue
Why would any airline or business want to put themselves in a position of being permanently smaller in the future and have very limited options for growth? To do so to me seems like madness.
But my point is still the same in that IAG is a group of airlines, not just BA. Someone is going to have to calculate where they can play strongly in the coming years, with multiple scenarios;
1) Keep holding on until the EU comes back on the 80/20 and then we will have to ramp schedules back up at the risk of huge losses?
2) Do we offload/lease out some of the slot portfolio at Gatwick to another airline, admitting they may be coming in our previous territory but that is just how our 'new BA' will look?
3) Do we refocus how Gatwick works on P2P leisure only, trim away the business-commanding routes back to Heathrow. Increase our long haul and short/med-haul leisure, sacrificing some slots at the same time as a means of raising cash?
This is not as simple and clean cut as many seem to think. If BA/IAG see an opportunity to consolidate Gatwick and raise capital by means of sale or leasing of slots, then I believe they will do that.