Is anyone aware of whether these routes will be using currently unused capacity, or will they be making some cuts on other routes to deploy aircraft to these new ones? Do they have any more E-Jets slated to arrive between now and April 6?
Could be either topend. On one hand, the press release says that jets are being re-deployed onto these routes; but on the other hand, the NS09 schedule begins on March 29, where as these services start over a week later on April 6, so that would suggest new aircraft.
Given that it is less than 6 weeks before the NS09 schedule is operational, I am perplexed as to why both DJ and JQ have yet to finalise loading all the flights into their booking engine. JQ especially with the first week of the schedule where despite HBA and MEL being in the same time zone, two of the flights are schedules to take 2:10, the others 1:10, while the return services have two that take just 0:10, the others 1:10!
I have trouble getting my head around the potential yield on the runs though, and would love to be privy to the P & L on these runs.
EWL, one point that I don't understand about yield managment is this. Any time viability of routes is talked about, yield and business travel always comes up. I think that the reality is that significant numbers of high yield fares are only going to be sold on early morning or late evening flights. But doesn't every aircraft in the fleet operate a service somewhere around lunchtime where there are not going to be significant numbers of high yield fares? So unless you are going to have aircraft operating two sector days (!), then your airline model is going to have to cope with making money on lunchtime flights. It is the same for every route in the network.
I don't know exactly what DJ are planning with this new strategy; but if I were doing it, I would change the current CBR-OOL-CBR to operate in the slot they will be doing the CBR-HBA-CBR (better for leisure travellers), then at 19:45 (where the CBR-OOL-CBR currently goes), do a CBR-HBA, overnight the jet in HBA, and go back first thing in the morning. This aircraft could even do say, HBA-CBR-OOL-TSV-OOL-CBR-HBA? I realise there are other issues such as crewing, availability of bays, other aircraft rotations etc that I have not considered as I am not privy to that information. As you say,
Time will tell I guess.
