Flybe-9

[Planespeaking]

Originally Posted by JAR

2 hours ago on Facebook

This morning, we are pleased to announce the Flybe International Bee Breeding Scheme (F.I.B.B.S.), a new partnership between Flybe and the British Beekeepers Association.

Now let me see what's the date today?

[Richard Taylor]

Couple of planes to be hived off & painted into a black & yellow livery.

[tophat27dt]

Originally Posted by Richard Taylor

Couple of planes to be hived off & painted into a black & yellow livery.

Ok honey. Now buzz off. Lol

[Mr A Tis]

https://news.sky.com/story/flybe-bla...venue-11314945

Flybe dip in revenue due weather.

[mikkie4]

Bet they wished they had taken up STOBARTS offer

[Jetscream 32]

Trouble is when you look at the share price over the last 12 months, every qtr they dip back into the 30/35 range and they are basically in "triage"

I think the chances of them coming back with a new lease of life and a major turnaround in profits are slim to remote and they are only 1 "event" away from some difficult uncomfortable truths.

They need a partner to come to the table with deep pockets to stabilise and recover to a point that they can at least breathe easy.... still fingers crossed eh!

[ETOPS]

The internal comms painted a more optimistic picture. It also foretold that the media would mainly focus on the gloomy bits which Sky duly did.

[toledoashley]

Especially in the media, when the numbers have been iffy for a while it's difficult to paint an optimistic picture. Others have come back from worse, so I hope the latest plan works - but I fear it needs some added direction.

[SWBKCB]

The internal comms painted a more optimistic picture

Hardly a shock!

There does seem to be some 'exceptional' reason with every announcement, though.

[Tonyq]

Originally Posted by SWBKCB

Hardly a shock!

There does seem to be some 'exceptional' reason with every announcement, though.

Indeed! This has been the position for 8/9 years, once the BA Connect dowry had all been consumed, there has always been some 'excuse', and promises of big things, at the end of the rainbow.

Down-sizing to significantly enhanced profitabilty is a very hard trick to pull off in any business, and bearing in mind the history here, it is hard to see FlyBe succeeding.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I can't see how they have a long-term future, in the current form and business model.

[01475]

And this is when oil is cheap :-(

[SealinkBF]

Just booked an Exeter - Norwich flight for £29.00.
The actual airfare was £3.46. And it's an Embraer!

Here's to positioning flights!

[PDXCWL45]

Originally Posted by Tonyq

Indeed! This has been the position for 8/9 years, once the BA Connect dowry had all been consumed, there has always been some 'excuse', and promises of big things, at the end of the rainbow.

Down-sizing to significantly enhanced profitabilty is a very hard trick to pull off in any business, and bearing in mind the history here, it is hard to see FlyBe succeeding.

I'm not sure what the answer is, but I can't see how they have a long-term future, in the current form and business model.

If they don't survive then that will be a massive blow to a lot of airports and a lot of routes won't be replaced, the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet and BA aren't going to replace the connectivity that Flybe provide across the UK.

[AirportPlanner1]

Or if they do it won’t be at a price many people like, you’ll be back to 15 people each morning paying £400 to fly SOU-MAN with BMI or someone.

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by PDXCWL45

If they don't survive then that will be a massive blow to a lot of airports and a lot of routes won't be replaced, the likes of Ryanair, Easyjet and BA aren't going to replace the connectivity that Flybe provide across the UK.

The obvious first step (and one I think they've already started to take) is a root and branch cull of unprofitable or marginal routes, and radical slimming down of the fleet to ensure they aren't carrying too much equipment to service the slimmed down route network.

If this is done you'll see whinges on this very forum from "airport fans" from Aberdeen to Newquay complaining bitterly that FlyBe has betrayed / abandoned or any one of heaven knows how many other adjectives because route or routes have been culled from their favourite airport.

If the worst were to happen, and I sincerely hope we are a long way from that, then new carriers would come on to the profitable routes ,and marginal ones would go by the wayside - so the end result would be the same. All airports on the network would suffer, but probably the bigger bases like MAN, BHX and SOU would suffer less than some others, perhaps like CWL, DSA, and EXT - not naming them specifically, just using them as examples.

[toledoashley]

If there is money to be made on a route, another will pick it up. It gets complicated when you add up all the various parts - the Manchester 'hub', Heathrow shuttles, LCY, regional 'sun,city,ski', small regional bases (CWL/DSA/NWI). You could easily see that being split up.

[Mr A Tis]

They are also up against rail competition on many routes. With some airport experiences being dire ( MAN T3 for instance) any time advantage of flying is lost.

[ATNotts]

Originally Posted by Mr A Tis

They are also up against rail competition on many routes. With some airport experiences being dire ( MAN T3 for instance) any time advantage of flying is lost.

However, given the (usually) exorbitant level of rail fares they will often win out on price, though the downside of air travel against rail is that generally speaking, meetings tend to be in city centres, where railway stations tend to be, and a big part of the time / price calculation is how much time / cost there is getting to and from the airports / railway stations and destination.

[TimmyW]

The original DSA contract was only signed until the end of 2018.

I've no idea whether the routes there are profitable, but if they are about saving money, I wouldn't expect it to carry on into 2019.

[SWBKCB]

I've no idea whether the routes there are profitable, but if they are about saving money, I wouldn't expect it to carry on into 2019

TimmyW - can you clarify. If you don't know whether the routes are profitable, why do you expect them to close?