Phone Wind

It seems Nico Bezuidenhout is getting ready to make major changes to the fleet mix in FastJet where he took over as CEO last month. The rumours I'm hearing have it that in Tanzania just 1 A319 will be retained and 2 leased E190s will be brought in in November (possibly wet leased from Bulgaria Air). Similarly, the A319 in Zimbabwe will be replaced by a 190. The rumour seems to be strengthened by the new flight schedule which shows the cabin seat layout conforming to the all-economy layout of the 190. It also seems likely that this will be the type the airline will be planning to use in Kenya once its AOC audit is complete.

There's still no firm news as to where the company HQ will be relocated. Nico has said he wants it moved from Gatwick to Africa and the 2 most likely locations would be Tanzania where the majority of the fleet is or South Africa as FJ will still be operating to Johannesburg.

Phone Wind

Well, it's all confirmed now that Fastjet is moving its HQ to Johannesburg and the A319s will be gone by the end of September to be replaced initially with 3 wet leased from Bulgaria Air - though it is planned that this will change to a dry lease in April 2017 by which time Fastjet will have its own crews for the type in place

https://skift.com/2016/09/23/the-dre...ine-is-fading/

It will be interesting to see how well the type fares in competition with ATCLs new Dash 8 Q400s as they come into service in the next couple of months

4runner

How much of Fastjets demise can be attritibuted to the government of Tanzania vs operational losses?

Phone Wind

From everything I've seen, experienced and read; it's almost entirely the fault of senior management which is why Sir Stelios forced the recent change in management

Phone Wind

It looks as if Fastjet have cancelled all flights from Dar to Kilimanjaro and Nairobi for at least the next 3 days and halved the number of flights to Mwanza and Mbeya. I have a friend stuck in Mwanza who thinks he'll be there for days unless he decides to spend 16 hours on the bus! It seems that all the 319s have now left except for the 1 which the company owns (and is trying to sell) and the new wet leased aircraft have not announced.
There is a deafening silence from the company about what is happening and a lot of Tanzanians have completely lost faith in them. Not a promising start from Nico; I think people expected much better of him than this

Phone Wind

Well they haven't arrived in Dar yet which means the entire operation is being carried out by 1 aircraft. That seems pretty appalling planning by any airline which wants to be taken seriously. I've already booked my next flight - with KQ

Phone Wind

I'm aware of the 319 in Harare, which is of no use for helping with the routes from Dar, is totally under-utilised, and is due to be replaced by an E190.
FJD, the one remaining in Dar is the one they own and which is up for sale, but that can't do all the schedules which is why so many have been cancelled with no notice to the travelling passengers.
It's no good having new leases starting at end of October when the present ones ended at the end of September. I did hear that 1 190 may be en-route, but that's scarcely likely to be in a position to help out for some days and meanwhile FJs already poor reputation takes another hammering. I'd be very reluctant to use them again even if their fares are cheaper - I prefer reliability

ian16th

Fastjet Introduces First Embraer 190, Sells A319 | Commercial Aviation content from Aviation Week

Phone Wind

The first leased E190 is now in Dar but has not started flying yet. Presumably they're waiting for clearance from TCAA as it''s a new type for them. The A319 they own has been sold (at a considerable loss, though it will put $8 million into FJ's dwindling coffers), but part of the sale agreement is that it can be used (subject to a limit of 100 cycles, for a reduction of $200,00 of the sale price) until 17 October, to allow time for the other 2 leased aircraft to arrive

Yeah

FJG is not coming. There are some issues with engine. ERJ still not approved by TCAA. Bulgarian crew still drinking in hotel enjoying contract. Weekend with single airplane operations. Expect many cancellations until Tuesday at least.

Phone Wind

Well Fastjet finally got a little bit of its act together yesterday as LZ-BUR did its first commercial flight for the airline.
However, an aircraft in Bulgaria Air colours with Cyrillic script on the side is probably not helping to enhance the Fastjet brand. Also the in-flight magazine still talking about Fastjet's fleet of A319s shows that their PR department has a looooong way to go. Attention to détail seriously lacking.
Let's see how ATCL's new Q400s compare when they start flying this weekend

Phone Wind

https://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com...ce-challenges/. /
It seems Nico Bezuidenhout is having as many problems in Tanzania and Zimbabwe as he did in SA, overcoming bureaucracy and protectionism. Both Tanzanian and Zimbabwean regulators are putting a lot of obstacles in the way of changing the fleet from A319 to E190. It's also possible that he was rather naive in thinking it would be easy to change his AOC in both countries where he is in commercial opposition to their state-owned airlines.
I wish him good luck - he's going to need lots (because cash is one thing FJ is very short of right now).

Phone Wind

totomechanic

Grand opening. Grand closing. This airline is the biggest disappointment to me. So much promise and yet so little delivery.

4runner

S speed

That's sad. I flew with them to Zim before on the 320/319 and it was a rather pleasant experience!

4runner

Phone Wind

caiman27

Interim results out today. Operating loss in the six months to 30 June of US$14.6m - losing money in all three countries in which it operates. Subsequently raised US$10m but will run out of money by the end of October. Without additional new money it will have to close. In any case it is planning to pull out of Tanzania due to "changes in the competitive landscape. Shares currently down by 38% so far today.

Phone Wind