I am no apologist for VS, just a (mostly) satisfied customer. I think all companies make it up as they go along! I was in commerce from 1978 and I soon discovered that '5 Year Plans' are just window dressing for the shareholders. Exactly the same as political manifestos, that are thrown out the window as soon as the votes are in. The demands of commercial pressure have increased beyond anything that was imagined in the 1970s when SRB was cutting his teeth in business.
In the time since VS was founded, one could list a few events. (in no order):
- Boom of the late 1980s
- Crash of 1990
- Recovery from mid-1990s
- Massive boom into the 2000s
- Massive crash in 2008
- How many major airlines closed in the last 30 years?
- How many airlines started in the last 30 years?
- Failure to make a deal with British Midland (for whatever reason)
- The arrival of LCC into medium haul (EZY + RYR) long haul (Norwegian) driving pax expectations of pricing
- The formation of the international airline groups (OneWorld etc.)
- The end of easy 'fat' pricing made tougher by Internet booking and pax being able to compare pricing across all carriers on a route in ten minutes from home
- Political instability (wars) and nature (earthquakes, hurricanes) can close a route at no minutes notice for an indefinite period (as before VS but the financial consequences of this are much higher now)
- The cost of fuel cannot be planned ahead and hedging breaks both ways
- The cost of new aircraft, staff, landing fees etc.
- The cost of landing your planes on the front lawn of the World's Favourite Airline
- etcetera