Originally Posted by
Skipness One Echo
Bit of a stunt methinks, at least I think that's how it's pronounced......
A rather cunning stunt, one might say...
IMHO a bit of a publicity stunt but RYA has a big cash balance and needs to either spend it or return it to shareholders - so they have to do something.
Let's assume it goes ahead...
Holding company created, owning both airlines. They'd be kept separate for industrial reasons. However RYA takes up most of EIN's routes it doesn't already operate, chucking the 320s in place of 738s (allowing maint & ops to be centralised on one type).
Beeb reports they only compete on a small number of routes so there'll be some cash-generation there.
Long-haul - it kind-of had to happen that longer routes would one day come into the lo-cos' radars as aircraft range performance increased. Really, what's the difference between operating 5 hr sectors to the far end of the Med, and tacking on a couple of hours to that and hopping the pond or to the sandpit? I suggest the cost problems start to escalate when you start throwing in two-sector trips.
So whilst it is a slight deviation from the one-type rule, having a small number of another type (when you've got over 200 of one type) probably isn't that big a deal; especially if you actually flog 'em to a lessor (so they're off the balance sheet) and effectively have them in your fleet on a fixed-cost ACMI basis. That is, the entire infrastructure is being run by someone else (at their risk) and you're just buying the capacity under a very tight SLA.
As for the unions...
I suggest you lot take a look at the D&G RP forum from time to time and see what's being done with "the Qantas group". Those who have suggested that S/H routes would gradually go to the lo-co need only look at Jetstar.
Actually Jetstar are about to start L/H lo-co ops with A330s, two-class, pay for blankets, pillows, IFE and meals on single-hop trips. Same name but separate entity and AOC from the domestic JQ ops. Taking the Jetstar L/H idea back to Ireland, being able to operate long routes on a lower cost basis might well actually open up more routes - so more flying. But - on a 'lower cost' basis...
You can betcha that MOL is watching his compatriot in Australia (Alan Joyce, running Jetstar) like a hawk.