The months ahead will be pivotal for Tiger and potentially a litmus test for the viability of the LCC in Oz.
Consider one view of the current state of play:
- Tiger constantly trying to appease an unhappy CASA
- A seriously unhappy workforce
- A failing EBA for pilots and a non existent EBA for cabin crew
- Inevitable industrial action
- Questions over engineering capability
- Aircraft flying around with up to 3 books of defects
- Reports of engineering breaches
- No engineering support for fleet during daylight hours except in MEL
- A newly acquired British management team with questionable ability and little workforce respect
- A new commercial director (Brit on visa) who hasn't shown up for work for over a month and has recently had his visa pulled
- The lowest on time performance of any Australian carrier-ever
- No safety department for 6 months
- Increasing numbers of pilots moving on to other pastures
- A new Qld base now on hold
- New aircraft for March no longer arriving
- A CEO apparently prepared to put ego ahead of sustainable business practice
- Operations being hamstrung at dealing with the increasing numbers of latent failures
- A ground handling agent unable to provide the required product due cost pressures
- Pilots self funding training
- Lowest industry pay rates
- Lowest industry terms and conditions
And the gory stuff hasn't even started.
Not a pretty picture.