Alpha 1 - delayed again?
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fokker, most people on here seem to have bypassed the stage of life where you gain experience, make mistakes etc. A pity more didn't show your view.
Many youngsters keen on aviation will come on here and be put right off the industry.
Many youngsters keen on aviation will come on here and be put right off the industry.
Join Date: Oct 2004
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To be fair, people are allowed their opinions and that is fine as long as they obide the forum rules.
This isnt a recruiting forum for young people into aviation, and people shouldnt come here looking for advice on how to run an airline!
I am in full support of this young fellow, except his continued launch plans and destination changes will put people off of him. The website and announcing the plans has nothing to do with an airline, its simple business. I wouldnt announce anything untill i had a website set into stone that was throughly tested and ready to handle bookings. It wouldn't be so bad if he had been announcing his routes since March, but this is why people are sick of it!
This isnt a recruiting forum for young people into aviation, and people shouldnt come here looking for advice on how to run an airline!
I am in full support of this young fellow, except his continued launch plans and destination changes will put people off of him. The website and announcing the plans has nothing to do with an airline, its simple business. I wouldnt announce anything untill i had a website set into stone that was throughly tested and ready to handle bookings. It wouldn't be so bad if he had been announcing his routes since March, but this is why people are sick of it!
Join Date: Oct 2005
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"Many youngsters keen on aviation will come on here and be put right off the industry." - eal401
I am afraid I couldn't disagree more. I am 20, and therefore in Martin Halstead terms I am a "youngster," and have been following the progress of alpha1 since April. He has changed plan so many times and broken so many promises that I am more concerned that he has discredited the future role of youngsters in the industry. That is nothing to do with people who rightly post here to pick up on these unnacceptable business practices, but due his own lamentable lack of organisiation.
I am surprised that, now we are permitted to discuss this again, nobody has yet mentioned his "impersonation" of himself earlier in the year, in which he allegedly posed on this website as an employee in order to squash (correct) rumours that there would be no alpha 1 in September. (Bear in mind that he had already missed launch dates in March, April and August.) He bet £100 to charity if it did not happen, and then September came and went. Next it was announced that flights would start on 7th November, and this was pushed back (if you exclude a single non revenue flight). Now the website is down yet again - but I doubt they have collapsed, I am sure he will live to break more deadlines.
I would have loved the original Oxford - Cambridge plan to work, and it is great to see "youngsters" in the industry. However, this is no way to run a business and it is damaging to his, and all young people's credibility.
I am afraid I couldn't disagree more. I am 20, and therefore in Martin Halstead terms I am a "youngster," and have been following the progress of alpha1 since April. He has changed plan so many times and broken so many promises that I am more concerned that he has discredited the future role of youngsters in the industry. That is nothing to do with people who rightly post here to pick up on these unnacceptable business practices, but due his own lamentable lack of organisiation.
I am surprised that, now we are permitted to discuss this again, nobody has yet mentioned his "impersonation" of himself earlier in the year, in which he allegedly posed on this website as an employee in order to squash (correct) rumours that there would be no alpha 1 in September. (Bear in mind that he had already missed launch dates in March, April and August.) He bet £100 to charity if it did not happen, and then September came and went. Next it was announced that flights would start on 7th November, and this was pushed back (if you exclude a single non revenue flight). Now the website is down yet again - but I doubt they have collapsed, I am sure he will live to break more deadlines.
I would have loved the original Oxford - Cambridge plan to work, and it is great to see "youngsters" in the industry. However, this is no way to run a business and it is damaging to his, and all young people's credibility.
Last edited by Rupert369; 17th Nov 2005 at 09:35.
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With regards to Alpha One themselves, I'll hold off for now.
Could I just point out that the "Flybe" website in question has been set up by an affiliate and re-directed. If they are smart, they will close the affiliate's account, as it is a bit dirty, but you can't blame BE themselves for it.
Could I just point out that the "Flybe" website in question has been set up by an affiliate and re-directed. If they are smart, they will close the affiliate's account, as it is a bit dirty, but you can't blame BE themselves for it.
Join Date: Mar 2005
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I'm 20, and I wish him the best of luck! 
Stop slagging him off. I dont see many other 19yr olds getting off there ar$es and making something happen.
I admit, he has made some mistakes, but at 19 do you think he's gona be a perfect business leader??
Here's some advice from Colin Pilinger, the father of the Beagle space programe;
"Nothing ever happens until someone gets off their arse and does something. That seems fairly obvious, but nothing ever does, and if it means having to kick a few doors off the hinges then that's what it takes".
Stop slagging him off. I dont see many other 19yr olds getting off there ar$es and making something happen.
I admit, he has made some mistakes, but at 19 do you think he's gona be a perfect business leader??
Here's some advice from Colin Pilinger, the father of the Beagle space programe;
"Nothing ever happens until someone gets off their arse and does something. That seems fairly obvious, but nothing ever does, and if it means having to kick a few doors off the hinges then that's what it takes".
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Good post Rupert well addressed and to the point.
He was caught out with his self 'impersonation' and ridiculed for it. A daft thing to do.
Flashdance
I think you are missing the point. It takes a LOT of experience in knowing about running an airline BEFORE you can run one. What he has done was bound to bounce along until he hit some buffers. His PR was one of the worst, whiile his use of the press was good but he still found that he was running wild without any shoes on!
It takes an inordinate amount of cash to run even a small airline and it demands hours and hours of effort. He demonstrated on more than one occasion that he had little of the former then later stated he wanted to run and fly it. That has never worked yet and never will.
He has also has to learn the art of not letting people down yet he has done that in great abundance.
If it works I will be among the first to clap but he cannot go on like this. His credibility is damn near zero right now.
He was caught out with his self 'impersonation' and ridiculed for it. A daft thing to do.
Flashdance
I think you are missing the point. It takes a LOT of experience in knowing about running an airline BEFORE you can run one. What he has done was bound to bounce along until he hit some buffers. His PR was one of the worst, whiile his use of the press was good but he still found that he was running wild without any shoes on!
It takes an inordinate amount of cash to run even a small airline and it demands hours and hours of effort. He demonstrated on more than one occasion that he had little of the former then later stated he wanted to run and fly it. That has never worked yet and never will.
He has also has to learn the art of not letting people down yet he has done that in great abundance.
If it works I will be among the first to clap but he cannot go on like this. His credibility is damn near zero right now.
I dont see many other 19yr olds getting off there ar$es and making something happen.
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To all those making the point that 'this is no way to run an airline' etc... He might be inexperienced but I'm fairly sure he knows that the last minute changes to the plan are not good for establishing credibility. He's therefore not making these changes for the hell of it.
He can only manage the resources he has, given the effects of external influences. All military men will tell you that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Business is like that... especially businesses who need to get up and running with little contingency. Any bump will have a knock on effect so he needs to manage those changes. He is doing. Many would have thrown the towel in- his persistence is admirable.
The fact is that he's making a go of it. Live and let live. Go for it. Good luck, it's a cynical industry so you need it.
It's amazing there isn't an English word for schadenfreude as us Brits seem to masters of knocking anyone down attempting to better themselves. Perhaps we do have a word for it- 'envy'?
He can only manage the resources he has, given the effects of external influences. All military men will tell you that no plan survives first contact with the enemy. Business is like that... especially businesses who need to get up and running with little contingency. Any bump will have a knock on effect so he needs to manage those changes. He is doing. Many would have thrown the towel in- his persistence is admirable.
The fact is that he's making a go of it. Live and let live. Go for it. Good luck, it's a cynical industry so you need it.
It's amazing there isn't an English word for schadenfreude as us Brits seem to masters of knocking anyone down attempting to better themselves. Perhaps we do have a word for it- 'envy'?
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On the new website, 'we look forward to welcoming you onboard in the future weeks and months.'
No mention of years then. Maybe he's planning for a short term operation!
Sorry, thats just me being cynical.
No mention of years then. Maybe he's planning for a short term operation!
Sorry, thats just me being cynical.
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This is very weird! Domain for sale! makes you wonder - or is their just a simple answer. Its on the J31 but no point in using it!
Sims Fly Virtually
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MAY be not relevant, but looking at the IP registration above, I have come across "godaddy" recently when investigating an eBay Scam that a friend was suckered into.
I'll post more when I have looked into this matter further, just to say that godaddy seemed to be involved in the route bogus emails travelled
I'll post more when I have looked into this matter further, just to say that godaddy seemed to be involved in the route bogus emails travelled
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David Wilding, you said....
Changed your mind then?
Back in August 2004 you were more than happy to punt around a website for your Jump Airlines fantasy...
Apologies for the thread creep....
I wouldnt announce anything untill i had a website set into stone that was throughly tested and ready to handle bookings
Back in August 2004 you were more than happy to punt around a website for your Jump Airlines fantasy...
Apologies for the thread creep....
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My contacts tell me that he was searching for someone to run his flight and no company wanted to be linked with his operation, and Love Air got cold feet. , even RM and BLK turned him down.
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After having read about Alpha 1 since the start on pprune, I was sure that before anymore posts were banned on the subject previously that it was generally agreed that it was never going to happen anyway? The consensus was that it was nothing more than a publicity ride for the young lad and nothing more than a virtual airline in all ways.
This was apparent to all but the dwindling band of supporters(mostly Martin himself as pseudonyms!) and the odd spotter or wannabe who thought he might get a job with him decrying everybody for knocking the "new Richard Branson".
I have to admit i was surprised to read the thread saying that Alpha 1 had collapsed as I thought i may have been wrong before in believing that it would never get started, but it seems from reading the posts here that it hasn't actually begun.
Maybe a renaming of this thread to Alpha 1 hasn't actually began(again) might be apposite
This was apparent to all but the dwindling band of supporters(mostly Martin himself as pseudonyms!) and the odd spotter or wannabe who thought he might get a job with him decrying everybody for knocking the "new Richard Branson".
I have to admit i was surprised to read the thread saying that Alpha 1 had collapsed as I thought i may have been wrong before in believing that it would never get started, but it seems from reading the posts here that it hasn't actually begun.
Maybe a renaming of this thread to Alpha 1 hasn't actually began(again) might be apposite
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New airline switches its maiden flight to Edinburgh
A TEENAGE entrepreneur dubbed "baby Branson" is launching his airline with flights from Scotland to the Isle of Man.
Martin Halstead, the 19-year-old behind Alpha One Airways, had planned to start operating next Monday, with flights from Southampton.
But he has scrapped that route in favour of twice-daily services to the island from Edinburgh, amid "overwhelming demand" for flights from the capital. The first flight will not now take place until 14 December due to delays in pilot training and setting up a booking system.
A spokeswoman for the airline said it had been overwhelmed by interest from potential passengers and had been forced to bring in a firm to help with bookings, which will open on Monday.
She said the first route had been changed because of far greater demand for the Edinburgh service. No bookings for the Southampton route have been taken and Alpha One plans to fly from there and Cardiff to the Isle of Man early next year.
A TEENAGE entrepreneur dubbed "baby Branson" is launching his airline with flights from Scotland to the Isle of Man.
Martin Halstead, the 19-year-old behind Alpha One Airways, had planned to start operating next Monday, with flights from Southampton.
But he has scrapped that route in favour of twice-daily services to the island from Edinburgh, amid "overwhelming demand" for flights from the capital. The first flight will not now take place until 14 December due to delays in pilot training and setting up a booking system.
A spokeswoman for the airline said it had been overwhelmed by interest from potential passengers and had been forced to bring in a firm to help with bookings, which will open on Monday.
She said the first route had been changed because of far greater demand for the Edinburgh service. No bookings for the Southampton route have been taken and Alpha One plans to fly from there and Cardiff to the Isle of Man early next year.
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Delusions
According the fawning article in the DT (I'm Baby Branson....yuk) he was going to carry 75,000 passenger on SOU-IOM. Now this was always going to be a good trick on a J31 with 18 seats, twice a day, 5 days a week i.e 18 x 4 x 5 = 18,720, a load factor of some 400%!
But now, at 2 weeks notice, suddenly SOU's no good and EDI is it!? Wonder what load factor he's expecting on this 1000%?
Every twist & turn reduces his credibility.
But now, at 2 weeks notice, suddenly SOU's no good and EDI is it!? Wonder what load factor he's expecting on this 1000%?
Every twist & turn reduces his credibility.