Hmm, interesting ideas, David. I find two of your suggestions particularly plausible (and not mutually exclusive):
First:
- BA want to big up the concept of long distance biz flights from LCY and looking for outside minority investors with major cash heap? Possible.
See the second last paragraph of
this good CAPA analysis article from yesterday which is otherwise about the travails of CityJet:
IAG remains tight lipped on the reasons for the new legal set-up of its two A318s flying from London City to New York JFK and told CAPA it is “in the process of exploring a variety of options related to potential new sources of finance".
And second:
Does the proposed wet leasing nature of the proposed relationship betweeb British Airways and BA Limited suggest that employment T&Cs might be significantly different for long haul staff at LCY compared to LHR in the future ?
Well, IIRC (and I am open to being corrected) the current roster involves a crew change in Shannon, which if true cannot be particularly cost-effective. Could slightly more flexible working arrangements (still within CAP371 of course) allow a single crew to operate all the way LCY-SNN-JFK? Tidying up aspects like that might be a logical step in a process of moving the operation from an experiment to a more permanent footing.