The Announcement to the ASX today for the month of September 08 does not reveal any details of the financial performance but does show that compared with September 07 the avearage number of aircraft in the fleet increased by 29.6% yet PKM's only increased by 8.9%. Hence the lower load factor and reduced fleet utilisation.
If the downturn we are in at present is as bad as the downturn we experienced after the minerals boom of the late 60's/early 70's we are in for a rough ride. After the first Labour Government since 1949 was elected in 1972 the sharemarket fell for 2-3 years and after loosing 61.8% (Fibonacci Retracement) of its value it finally bottomed out in 1975; back to where it was in late 1959. All the growth for 15+ years had been wiped out; along with it the hopes and aspirations of countless Australians.
'History does repeat itself and we do not learn from it'
The mess we are in at present will be long and protacted with many financial institutions going to the wall. How many airlines will collapse or merge remains to be seen !.
Ps. The Virgin Blue release is dated 21 September 2008, obviously it should be dated 21 October 2008.