Varsity Express
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@pug
...but only after they ran an article about Channel Connect in the August issue (with quotes from unnamed "senior representatives" of Channel Connect) - which I found particularly irritating as they first fell into the trap and in the very next issue they celebrate themselves as the journal that had unmasked the teenager....
...but only after they ran an article about Channel Connect in the August issue (with quotes from unnamed "senior representatives" of Channel Connect) - which I found particularly irritating as they first fell into the trap and in the very next issue they celebrate themselves as the journal that had unmasked the teenager....
Join Date: Mar 2001
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This article in the Oxford Times has MH claiming that 68% of seats had been sold for the first month.
I can't find the start-up timetable but I think it was OXF-EDI in the morning and EDI-OXF in the evening = 2 sectors a day Mon-Fri. Typical month = 22 weekdays. 18 available seats.
22 * 2 * 18 = 792 - 68% = 538 single tickets. That all assumes the accuracy of MH's claims in the first place!
What is worrying is that level of seat sales gives a monthly revenue of £26,389. Can anyone run an airline with that little monthly revenue? LinksAir was allegedly owed £60,000. Recipe for disaster before they even made their first flight. Even with a 100% load factor they couldn't pay LinksAir.
I can't find the start-up timetable but I think it was OXF-EDI in the morning and EDI-OXF in the evening = 2 sectors a day Mon-Fri. Typical month = 22 weekdays. 18 available seats.
22 * 2 * 18 = 792 - 68% = 538 single tickets. That all assumes the accuracy of MH's claims in the first place!
What is worrying is that level of seat sales gives a monthly revenue of £26,389. Can anyone run an airline with that little monthly revenue? LinksAir was allegedly owed £60,000. Recipe for disaster before they even made their first flight. Even with a 100% load factor they couldn't pay LinksAir.
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Its my understanding that LinksAir were owed a lot less than the sum quoted and had received some of the money owed to them anyway. The main dispute appeared to be VE management's reluctance to pay anyone anything.
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Pilot Positive - Here you go
You asked for notable quotes (more like sickening quotes):
''it's time to put 'baby branson' to bed and sing him a lullaby, i want to be the first Martin Halstead from here on in''
well i think we can all agree he has completed that task!
''The fundamental business plan was strong and they had the right approach, but before i agreed to join i made sure that there was adequate money behind the project''
Talking about the ficticious financial backers that had 'approached' him
''I guess i had a point to prove to myself that i could do it''
hmmm. That sum's it all up.
If you want more, you need to read the article for yourself - plenty more where the above came from. He says he is getting married this year, but that poor woman (if it is true) should run a mile while she's got the chance
''it's time to put 'baby branson' to bed and sing him a lullaby, i want to be the first Martin Halstead from here on in''
well i think we can all agree he has completed that task!
''The fundamental business plan was strong and they had the right approach, but before i agreed to join i made sure that there was adequate money behind the project''
Talking about the ficticious financial backers that had 'approached' him
''I guess i had a point to prove to myself that i could do it''
hmmm. That sum's it all up.
If you want more, you need to read the article for yourself - plenty more where the above came from. He says he is getting married this year, but that poor woman (if it is true) should run a mile while she's got the chance
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He says he is getting married this year, but that poor woman (if it is true) should run a mile while she's got the chance.
Or did she leave her Facebook logged on?
Moderatrix
Test Pilot for Annick Goutal
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Anyone that trys to use this forum for personal attacks against an individual whether a PPRuNer or a contributor to another site; your posts will be deleted at the discretion of the Site moderators.
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Anyone that trys to use this forum or this Site for personal attacks against an individual whether a PPRuNer or a contributor to another site, your posts will be deleted at the discretion of the Site moderators.
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I don't think Hawk was intimating that post was a "personal attack against an individual whether a PPRuNer or a contributor to another site" but just a warning shot across the bows should anyone put ill-judged comments about her on pprune.
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May justice prevail...
Anyone that trys to use this forum or this Site for personal attacks against an individual whether a PPRuNer or a contributor to another site, your posts will be deleted at the discretion of the Site moderators.
Hawk are you suggessting to delete the whole of this thread....? That appeared to be what was happening in the early days of VE and the result was that pilots who were relying on this forum to give them some kind of indication of VE's cerdibilty were denied.
Of course, any irrelevant personal attacks targetted towards people who fall outside scope of the topic should be deleted.
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Any pilot who depends on an anonymous internet forum to make a risky decision to commit time, money and reputation to an obviously questionable operation needs a serious reality check.
The site may have decided not to participate in the promotion of a narcissistic, egomaniacal con-artist. And/or they may have decided a blackout was the best means of sending a message to their readers without providing grist for the libel/slander lawsuit mill.
In either case, lack of comment from the forum fairly shouts that the topic is one that the forum deems not worth the risk/bother to publish comments about. That, plus a little research and common sense, should have told pilots everything they needed to know.
So please, enough whining about the poor pilots being let down PPRuNe. They let themselves down.
The site may have decided not to participate in the promotion of a narcissistic, egomaniacal con-artist. And/or they may have decided a blackout was the best means of sending a message to their readers without providing grist for the libel/slander lawsuit mill.
In either case, lack of comment from the forum fairly shouts that the topic is one that the forum deems not worth the risk/bother to publish comments about. That, plus a little research and common sense, should have told pilots everything they needed to know.
So please, enough whining about the poor pilots being let down PPRuNe. They let themselves down.
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StbD,
Whilst I agree with your comment that depending on an anonymous forum to make a decision is risky, it still remains an additional source of information that combined with other research and judgement would have helped build a picture of MH. Yes, if you're going to invest £15k you better ask some pretty searching questions.
I would venture that PPrune neither lets down or supports anyone and as long as threads remain relevant and avoids personal mudslinging the forum moderators should remain impartial in judging information presented within it. Its upto the individual to interpret what he reads and apply that interpretation to his own circumstances.
The opportunity, as contributors, is to supply and share experiences, information, opinions and advice about our industry as and when the need arises. In this case, a new start up was launched with what appears to be the goal of acquiring money by deception from young, perhaps green, pilots. For people who might have had an inkling that this could be the case they have had the opportunity to share their views and perhaps provide some warning to others using the PPrune forum. However, the 6 or 7 VE/MH threads attempting to do so were, at the critical moment, kaboshed.
Whilst I agree with your comment that depending on an anonymous forum to make a decision is risky, it still remains an additional source of information that combined with other research and judgement would have helped build a picture of MH. Yes, if you're going to invest £15k you better ask some pretty searching questions.
I would venture that PPrune neither lets down or supports anyone and as long as threads remain relevant and avoids personal mudslinging the forum moderators should remain impartial in judging information presented within it. Its upto the individual to interpret what he reads and apply that interpretation to his own circumstances.
The opportunity, as contributors, is to supply and share experiences, information, opinions and advice about our industry as and when the need arises. In this case, a new start up was launched with what appears to be the goal of acquiring money by deception from young, perhaps green, pilots. For people who might have had an inkling that this could be the case they have had the opportunity to share their views and perhaps provide some warning to others using the PPrune forum. However, the 6 or 7 VE/MH threads attempting to do so were, at the critical moment, kaboshed.
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Its my understanding that LinksAir were owed a lot less than the sum quoted
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Thanks Ryanair1 for posting that.
''The fundamental business plan was strong and they had the right approach, but before i agreed to join i made sure that there was adequate money behind the project''
What were the journos thinking when they bought Halstead's bullsh@t???
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They were thinking about selling newspapers, all they ever think about. You know the old cliche, "If it bleeds, it leads." Substitute brags for bleeds in this case.
I suspect this is just rags-to-riches spillover from the popular reality TV genre. MH probably saw SuBo and so many others propelled to fame that he decided to dust off his old AlphaOne business plan.
I actually don't think he set out to defraud. I'll bet he's naive enough to think he could have made a go of it. But the day he dreamed up Will Gilligan and the day he said there was strong financial backing, whichever came first, was the day it will be said that he crossed the line into fraud by misrepresenting the truth.
By the way, to those doing ticket price maths, £49 was an introductory fare. I checked a few dates trying to see how many seats were sold and the fare was about £168 each way if I put in more than four people.
I suspect this is just rags-to-riches spillover from the popular reality TV genre. MH probably saw SuBo and so many others propelled to fame that he decided to dust off his old AlphaOne business plan.
I actually don't think he set out to defraud. I'll bet he's naive enough to think he could have made a go of it. But the day he dreamed up Will Gilligan and the day he said there was strong financial backing, whichever came first, was the day it will be said that he crossed the line into fraud by misrepresenting the truth.
By the way, to those doing ticket price maths, £49 was an introductory fare. I checked a few dates trying to see how many seats were sold and the fare was about £168 each way if I put in more than four people.
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£49 was an introductory fare. I checked a few dates trying to see how many seats were sold and the fare was about £168 each way if I put in more than four people.