Originally Posted by Load Toad
So what's your new system then?
I can tell your in 'management' - you've got an idea you think's good but being anal you're withholding it and blaming everyone else for not grasping it and moving forward....
we meanwhile sit here wondering what on earth you are on about but know full well it will shortly be our fault & that you'll tell us so via the usual communication channel. salaries & perks will be cut and some team building exercise which everyone hates will be held in a budget hotel adjacent a motor way junction.
You've got me there, Load Toad ... only the team-building will be in a field, and you'll have to bring your own tent.
(Who said anything about pay - can't you feel the love???)
Originally Posted by HEATHROW DIRECTOR
So what are you propsing, a(nother) new airline, an ATC system or what?
What I
wanted was to fly several small groups of people from various backwaters to various other backwaters, mostly within about 90 minutes flying time of each other. What I had
hoped was that I could work with an existing regional airline, but those airlines that have at least responded to my proposals are almost unanimous in dismissing them just because "that's not the way it's done."
What I don't understand is that "that"
is the way it's done in every other transport industry. It's no big deal, it's not new. I can get my passengers to the airport by bus, car, taxi, train, bike, lorry or boat - but I can't fly them onwards. (And I mean I really can - I have the passengers, I have half the licences/vehicles myself and know someone who has them if I don't). There's no point in approaching one of the big companies - I'm working with groups of 30-40ish - standard coach-loads, who've got fed up of 6-10hour each-way drives for a day's or a weekend's outing. I want (and can probably) sell some spare seats, but no way can I fill a >90-seater. Even a 60-seater's pushing it.
Apart from not feeling the need to contribute to some Chief Exectuive's six figure salary, I also have some concerns about the working practices of some of these regional airlines - and I share the view that Tarq57 expresses re crew - and the aforementioned apparent underlying hostility in some companies worries me. In the absence of anyone prepared to do the job for me for a sensible price, I really don't have any alternative other than to do it myself.
Originally Posted by BOAC
I think the only answer for you is to wait until you have results from the "discussions with aircraft lease companies and the CAA" and then let us know the problems.
This is the first hurdle - I can understand the lease companies wanting their money up front, same as every other piece of equipment I've leased, but the CAA application I find quite bizarre. They're asking
me to tell them how I'm going to work, asking me to write my own Manual of Ops, and then cover my costs in advance.
That's just plain wierd for a regulatory agency.
In my "day job" I have the opportunity to cause or suffer death and/or serious injury by a dozen different means every hour of the working day. The regulators of that environment are seriously anal (even to the point of dictating the maximum size of the letters on signs/notices displayed to the public
) and the safety rules are simple: do exactly what we say, how we say, when we say, and if you don't, we'll crucify you (assuming you didn't kill yourself already). The one thing they don't do, though, is tell me how to run my business - that's between me, the bank and the taxman (and a seperate standards agency if I want a nice logo for my stationery).
Originally Posted by ConstantFlyer
I would have said that the advent of the lo-cos has produced a paradigm shift in passenger travel by air. What we need now is a complete overhaul of the passenger 'security' experience and the building of more city centre airports.
I can't see the eco-warriors (some of whom make up one of my passenger lists) being too keen on more city centre airports, but more small
town-centre airports certainly - and that would provide the opportunity to overhaul the 'security' experience. I live in France where practically every county town has it's own airport. They're great: free parking, 10mins from the front door, through security, to the boarding gate. Then you land at Pier D in Dublin and it's like walking all the way home again.
Now, I don't agree that the lo-cos have really changed anything. Point-to-point almost wiped out the culture of connecting flights, but now EZ and Flybe have them back again (EZ even connecting with trains, FGS! - just like the ferry !) and up-front fares came down, but are really not much different if you can't be incredibly flexible. Prices only ever go up while you're trying to fix the rest of your travel details, cheap standby has vanished, "business" fares do nothing for small businesses, seasonality is a a way to rip-off hard working folk and parents of school age children who have no option but to travel in "that particular week" ... I could go on (and on)
So - especially for Load Toad's benefit - I propose turning all of that on its head. I've seen it work in many other sectors, including the travel industry, as a provider and a consumer. It has nothing to do with operational safety - so why do the CAA need market research to believe it?