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Old 21st Sep 2016, 11:03
  #981 (permalink)  
 
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If this is successful I would put money on all the other European carriers following suit.

The days when European airlines could offset losses of hundreds of millions in short-haul with profits from long-haul are long gone.

It is also no bad thing if BA short-haul is seen by IAG as profitable business in its own right rather than a loss making feeder for long-haul.
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Old 21st Sep 2016, 14:58
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Im sure I read somewhere that they were looking at Waitrose as a potential partner for this.
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Old 21st Sep 2016, 15:05
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Probably be Harrods or Fortnum & Mason in First & Business..........
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Old 21st Sep 2016, 15:49
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My concern would be the ability to deliver BOB with current crew levels , unless there is very low take-up and no service even Beveridge to other passengers.
I flew LHR to PRG in July on A320 , approx 85% full , 20C and 1 hr 35 flight.
Alll four crew were young , the Customer Service Mgr spent the entire flight in Club and was not at all effective in managing the crew in Traveller.
2 of the crew commenced service at the front of the cabin , serving a pre packed cheese and ham croissant and Beveridge of choice.The third crew member.was galley based replenishing the trolley with tea,coffee ,water ,juices.
They were unbelievably slow , and didn't help themselves by not managing passenger trips to the toilets. One American passenger made three trips in the space of 20 mins with his two children , one of the children twice, and each time they shuttled the trolley immediately to let him go and again as soon as he wanted back.Good service for him but not making him wait a bit compromised service to everyone else.
I was in row 19 and was served abt 1hr 10 into the flight ,25 mins before arrival.
The crew then switched to duty free service and spent a long time in front of the curtain in Club .They didn't start collecting rubbish until less than -15
The cabin was secure at abt -5 to touchdown , I don't think I've ever been on. BA flight ( and I've done 100s ) where we were so close to touch down before the crew sat down.

I don't know how this would ever have worked with 4 crew delivering BOB.
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Old 21st Sep 2016, 16:08
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Originally Posted by BCALBOY
I don't know how this would ever have worked with 4 crew delivering BOB.
I very much doubt BA are going to up crew numbers......

I stand to be corrected but I'm pretty sure Easyjet manage with 4 on parallel routes to ones BA operate, however as you rightly point out they don't have the complication of Club which takes the senior crew member out of the loop. I have to say the way the Easyjet crew can scoot round the cabin on a shortish sector, handle cash in more than one currency, and make sure your heated breakfast sarnie gets to you promptly is v impressive.

Alll four crew were young
Sounds like mixed fleet, but TBH I'm not sure I'd see the youthfulness of the crew as a blocker to this. I do think It's going to need, shall we say, a cultural change for this to work successfully under current manning levels. ....if it's simply introduced without some form of training I can foresee problems.
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Old 21st Sep 2016, 16:29
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I can assure BOB does not take anywhere near as long on the huge majority of flights.

Not everyone will require serving in the way they currently do as they are "entitled" to it. The crew could end up walking by a number of rows before actually reaching anyone that wants to purchase something. Of course the busier leisure routes will most likely generate the most sales. Again just like with any airline with BOB.

Other airlines manage it extremely well. Im sure BA will have a plan in place for busier flights behind the curtain, just as they do now with busier flights infront of the curtain. Infact its not the first time they have offered BOB. Ba Connect used to, albeit usually on smaller aircraft. Not to mention a wealth of knowledge and experience from behind the scenes from their IAG partner airlines and even colleagues who have not always worked with BA.
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Old 22nd Sep 2016, 09:16
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The BOB v flight time issue could be resolved with an update on the cash machine BA use. Every sale takes an age, even the crew get frustrated and if you use a credit/debit card you need a passport. A passport to buy Pringles.
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Old 22nd Sep 2016, 09:20
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Hi All.

Quick question. BA185 LHR to EWR in January 2017, it's currently showing flights going on 787-9. Our booking shows 772. Any ideas if they're making the 787-9 a permanent aircraft on this route into the beginning of 2017?
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Old 22nd Sep 2016, 10:17
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The days when European airlines could offset losses of hundreds of millions in short-haul with profits from long-haul are long gone.

It is also no bad thing if BA short-haul is seen by IAG as profitable business in its own right rather than a loss making feeder for long-haul.
Short haul has always been profitable for the majors. It is only in the official accounts that it is seen as not. This is due to the way in which revenue on connections is divided between the flights. I understand in some cases £1 is attributed to the short haul and all the rest to the long haul. There are obscure taxation and political reasons for so doing, but be assured the board both know the real picture and would never tolerate genuine loss-making operations of any sort long term.

Revenue attribution between shared operations is something capable of 101 interpretations.
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Old 23rd Sep 2016, 00:51
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Hi All.

Quick question. BA185 LHR to EWR in January 2017, it's currently showing flights going on 787-9. Our booking shows 772. Any ideas if they're making the 787-9 a permanent aircraft on this route into the beginning of 2017?
BA185/BA184 is currently planned to operate using a 4 class 777 aircraft. BA189/BA188 will be operated by a 4 class 787-9
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Old 23rd Sep 2016, 01:49
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WHBM is correct - BEA and then BA always claimed to lose money on LHR-ABZ flights even when they were always full and the turn-up fare was over £ 600 return
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Old 24th Sep 2016, 07:58
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Wonder where this change would leave DHL ?

They've spent 10 years and a huge amount of cash trying to grow their airline catering division at Heathrow, and BA Shorthaul was their 'come-and-see-what-we-can-do' operation.
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Old 24th Sep 2016, 11:47
  #993 (permalink)  
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One of the modern business SOPs is to get a new supplier to drop their knickers on a contract, in the hope of more int he future. Then, when they change the contract, they dump them and get another supplier to drop their knickers.

Not saying this is happening now but I've seen it happen too many times in the last 25 years.
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Old 26th Sep 2016, 07:50
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I understand DHL are only responsible for providing the logistics for BA short-haul. The catering itself is provided by other suppliers.

DHL's work for BA has probably increased substantially given the growth in BA short-haul at LHR and many routes not being re-catered at outstations.
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 10:42
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It's been a long time coming but BA and Qatar Airways have announced the launch of a joint-business from 30 October 2016:

http://www.qatarairways.com/global/e...essrelease_qjb
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 11:54
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It's been a long time coming but BA and Qatar Airways have announced the launch of a joint-business from 30 October 2016:
A long overdue challenge to EK/QF's eastbound domination out of the UK regions, and shores up both BA and QR positions at LHR with or without R3.
Wonder if BA will now ditch its last surviving service to Australia (the daily BA15 to SIN/SYD) in favour of routing its Australian traffic via Doha on QR metal instead.
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 11:58
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Interesting question, though perhaps worth bearing in mind the BA15 does pick up a lot of joining traffic travelling to/from SYD in SIN.
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 12:14
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BA to SYD

Recently spoke with BA 777 captain. He says the flights to and from SYD are always full. Must be a money maker with good premium load. Let's hope they don't drop it for routing via ME.
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 12:18
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Do we think, like the QF/EK we could see both airlines use the A380, meaning BA put one on the Doha route
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Old 28th Sep 2016, 13:13
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DB
Yep, I can second your 777 captain's observation about loads on the 15, it's quite often v full between SIN and SYD.

However what we don't know is what folks are paying for the seats. There's also a problem with aircraft utilisation- when the aircraft gets to SYD early breakfast time it then sits on the ground not earning it's keep for 8-9 hours before it sets sail northbound again, something the accountants don't like.

Edit to add:

azz767

Do we think, like the QF/EK we could see both airlines use the A380, meaning BA put one on the Doha route]
A Doha " terminator" perhaps but for the foreseeable future I don't Think BA have got enough 380s to do a UK/ME/Aus rotation without pulling the 380 off other routes. Depending on timings you might need at least 3 hulls just to cover that one service.

Last edited by wiggy; 28th Sep 2016 at 14:55.
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