Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Do you think that the improved citixpress will have its own livery on aircraft or own website?

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

love to know how much the nice little cards we all got cost....would have been cheaper to post a memo in crew rooms to look in 'Telegraph'

ERJ145 not suitable for low cost as Ryan and Easy have shown.....too small.... 'club' gave us the small profit we made.....imho

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

I wonder if there is any truth in the rumors of 7**'s to the regions instead of been scrapped/sold on. Sound plausible to me as they have got about as long left working for BA mainline as the regional outfit has to make a profit.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Hang on a moment...... something's just occured to me...

A postcard with a gift-wrapped 145? Suggests a big livery change.

Here's an idle question... If a launch is coming this week, and if employees are being prepared for something big with a postcard that hints at a new set of clothes for the aforementioned sexy Brazilian...

...is there an a/c hidden away somewhere, all snazzed up with a new livery ready for the launch? I know some of BACX's Embraers have passed through Sprayavia in NWI in the past.

We'll just have to wait and see (or beam a signal out into the night sky to call in our trusty hoards of spotters... ;)

*j* :ok:

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Willie Walsh is quoted in the Telegraph as saying "CitiExpress has been something of a challenge for us. The financial performance of this business has not been good enough. All parts of the business must contribute to us reaching the target of a 10pc operating profit margin."

I fail to see how reducing fares (from £99 return to £25 one-way) on a 49-seater aircraft (which already operate at 70% load-factors) will result in a higher yield. I find this especially the case considering the loss of Club Europe revenue.

How can this possibly result in BACX turning round a £30million/year loss into a 10% profit margin?

More immediately, re-branding is yet another step down the road in preparing BACX for sell off or a management buy out. If a new livery is unveiled next week (as suggested by the postcards) then it wont be long until BA profits from the sale of BACX.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Can it really be losing £30m a year ..........telegraph article!

To turm this round it would need another 1.2M passengers paying £25 - about 25,000 Embraer flights about 8 years flying for one aircraft.

Unless the new 'BACX' starts to pay it's way BA can only improve it's profits by the disposal of BACX, even if it was sold for £77.999,999 less than it was purchased for.

Although there has been a reduction in the numbers of manangement staff, overheads, and poor routes dumped there has been no change at the top. The present 'gang' have done their bit -time for new blood to make or break what looks like the last chance for this section of BA.

Good luck to all the staff who have endured this rough ride. Wonder how much it cost to send all these postcards?

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

And it must have cost a fortune in gift-wrap to cover a 145... :}

This is going to be a very interesting couple of weeks... I suspect the jobs are safe, but there's going to be more than just a change of uniform for everyone involved. Let's see whether WW can bring his magic touch to BACX...

*j*

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

how can WW say that BACX "has been something of a challenge for us" when it is only recently an announcement was made,i think september,when they said that "BA will be recomitting to the regions",before that theyve pretty much disassociated with us and if you asked a member of mainline crew what BACX were,they didnt have a clue!

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

I use BAW (BACX) approx 8x per year DUS-MAN et vv. and find it a good product for the price and have always said it should be a one class flight , as flag carrier , with different fares . What they need is larger a/c ... maybe the EMB170 or so , could that not be in the hidden photo ? How they can make money with the E145 yet without Club remains to be seen . If I ruled Waterworld ..... !!!

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

The idea of running a low-cost airline with 50-seat regional jets does not work, if you need any proof of that, just ask the thousands of staff who have recently become unemployed thanks to the collapse of Independence Air. Whilst for passengers, the introduction of RJs to regional flying has, some might say, improved the image of "puddle jumper" airlines & provided a more comfortable flying experience, the costs for operating these jets is huge, especially with the current state of oil prices. For a LCC, it is worse, as the cost of operating the flight cannot be spread so evenly across an aircraft if there are only 50-seats. The Avro RJs are also ageing, and I believe fairly expensive to maintain, but the 100-seat market, if operated by the correct equipment, could be a huge money-coup for BACX. JetBlue appear to be doing well with the EMB-190 (100-seats) proving lowcost with smaller aircraft can work.

Perhaps Willie's plan for BACX is to become operational like a LCC. Fast turnarounds with the help of cabin-crew, one-cabin fleet, maybe even a one-type fleet. Ridding BACX of Club Europe may appear to be a problem, but as long as the airline provides the same standards of safety & service that pax expect from British Airways, then I doubt you'll see a huge dip in pax numbers, particularly if the benefits of Executive Club are still available.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Wonder if some people will receive their postcards in brown envelopes with "Dear John" letters?

Then, the new livery could be brown envelope coloured!:eek:

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

bmibaby.com,

"The Avro RJs are also ageing".

Don't make me laugh, the youngest Avro RJ isn't even 5 years old.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

i think the Embraers are at least 8 years old.It definitely cant work on the smaller aircraft.another example is Duo,i know there were underlying problems there again to do with managament,but werent they low cost business class,which is what in effect BACX would become going by the interview with WW in the telegraph

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Announcement due early morning Tuesday 10th January.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

There is mention of 14 regional airports, which ones? Any chance of Humberside being in there? A 49 seater would be ideal for the size of the market, routes like Copenhagen, Paris, Belfast, Southampton etc.

Regards

Mike

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

me & my colleague have been trying to think of the 14 airports theyre talking about,as we could only name ten current ones,so they must be introducing new routes or bases.i have heard from a colleague that a manager said "were not getting rid of aircraft we currently have,however it doesnt mean that were not getting old aircraft from another base" which brings us back to the 737s from LGW rumour

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

You are assuming the management can count.

If indeed they can then Gatwick and the 737 fleet would be the obvious choice.

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Tiggerific none of the BACX embraers are 8 years old where you get that idea from?

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

Maybe this will all end up in a US-style CPA agreement. Newly founded ExpressJet Europe is aggressively soliciting customers for their CPA concept that would make it easier for established airlines to offer low cost products with regional jets as they can benefit from the economies of scale of the CPA provider. Must I mention that chairmen (and investors) of ExpressJet Europe are former top brass of BRAL, Business Air, British European... (incl. Messrs. Liddiard and Wooley) ? Interesting times....

Re: BACitiExpress The final solution!
 

I cannot see how CX can make a profit out of £25.00 tickets plus using EMB's. Surely these a/c are not suitable for this type of operation. I do not see anyone else using them and that in itself tells its own story. As mainline BA staff we want CX t o suceed and become more profitable. Surely it is time Waterside sorted out what CX is expected to be and invested in the right a/c. The only EMB to make profit out of this has to be the 170/190.