Loganair Speculates on Terminating BA Franchise
 

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=468162006
Seems Loganair is feeling unloved and taken for granted......
Hope this is false as BA has downsized enough North of the Border.

If this happens then it will not be BA downsizing, it will be Loganair relinquishing their Franchise, they pay BA to operate their aircraft in BA colours.

What ever way you view this; from BA's point of view we make monies from this operation. However, whether the Highlands and Islands fit into the BA big scheme of things is questionable. Loganair enjoy a unique operation in an area posing severe conditions for some of the time, the links to the south once provided by BA are now offered by numerous airlines and maybe loganair might be better placed with there own identity.

Loganair
 

It was only a matter of time until Loganair announced it was not happy with the way the franchise with BA was being managed. Its not such a good deal for Loganair afterall. Loganair is a great airline, doing what it knows best, but not getting whats best for it in return.

To start with as Mr Grier has already stated, no one from the new BA management team at Waterside (Waterworld) has called to introduce themselves or even say Hi... How unprofessional is that.

Next you have the problem in that BA handle Loganair at EDI and GLA, who themselves (ground staff) are not exactly impressed with orders from down south. In EDI the lack of staff available to carry out their duties ie meeting and boarding flights and ramp support staff with inadequite and unreliable equipement is disgusting. The crew are forever putting in 'Service-Reports' about the poor standard of ground handling - airside, which isnt cheap!

On top of that, Loganair who have a monopoly really, should be making rakes of cash - but are they? BA will take a fee for 'Being associated with us' and once again the highly inflated handling charges, as well as the 'High' fuel costs and all other associated fees levied for using airports and airspace etc.

Now, would Loganair receive every penny of the subsidy from the Scottish Executive if they were to 'Go alone', instead of sharing most of it with BA... It couldnt be any worse. I know that Loganair did exist on their own before and it didnt work out, but that was before the Scottish Execuitve, and that was when they operated a multitude of different aircraft: Islander, JS31/41, Twin Otter, SH360, ATP, Bae146 and briefly the F27 and BAC1-11. Now things are much simpler with a fleet of Saab 340Bs (still operate the Twin Otter too).

Heres an idea! Why dont they get together with BAConnect and create a low fares outfit serving the whole of the UK - SAABs and Embraers (Possibly the RJ) which would serve all areas of the country. It would save BA from scrapping BAConnect and let BA do what they want. (T5 to the big bad world as BA dont want domestic flights anymore). It could also create a better suited domestic airline tailored to specific requirements ie Highlands and Islands and domestic UK services. Value for money and staff that really do enjoy working hard for an airline.

It has to have some sort of plausability...

This has just been another case of a Journo twisting the facts and making 2+2 equal 5.

There is no intention on the part of BA or Loganair to change the Franchise arrangement unless, when 2008 comes along, the situation warrants another appraisal.

Thanks for the history lesson whilst neglecting to mention that Loganair have also previously operated types including Shorts Skyvan, SD330, EMB110, Trislander and DHC7!

... and call it... wait... British Regional... :eek:

If the article does indeed originate from Yogie, then SG has something up his sleeve... :E

As for them having a monopoly, yes they do, most routes would not survive with competition, but some competition is needed, then Yogie would suffer...

In this article,there seems to a large input from Scott Grier,so I would say there's a large possibility that the franchise is nearing it's end.

http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=468162006

Surely the obvious explanation is that Loganair wants to establish a negotiating position before the serious talks about the franchise roll around? If BA feels that Loganair has no alternative to a continuation of the franchise, you can be sure they'll take advantage of that - increase the % of revenue that the franchise fee represents, limit the possible destinations Loganair can serve just in case BaCon wants to go there one day, and so on. So Loganair's just signalling that they do have an alternative (allegedly :hmm: ), to keep BA honest.

Not sure what form that alternative might take. A merger with bmi regional? :\

Let's face it, in Loganair's present form, while their services are very important for connectivity in Scotland, they don't really provide a key piece of the strategic jigsaw for Skyteam or Star Alliance (or even BA, come to that...)

Lots of very interesting "ifs and buts" being posted here, but it's all about fiction.

As I posted before - this is just journalistic licence, the franchise works well for both sides and no reason to assume that will not continue to be the case.

Point taken, but you also forgot to metion the Beech 18...

I don't know how you can say that when there are quotes from the man himself in that article I linked to.

It's perhaps all posturing to get a better deal,but I don't think so.

Oshkosh George

I know the newspaper article makes it look like SG was imlying a possible franchise re-negotiation, but I have it on good authority that the subject matter was supposed to be something else and that a question was slipped in about franchises, with the reply being reported entirely out of context, as reporters always do!

That's what I heard - you can believe it or you can accept as gospel what you read in the press. Up to you.

Major Loganair change in Scotalnd
 

There are to be somemajor Loganair changes in Scotland, including:

All flights to Wick dropped
GLA-ORK/DUB/INV dropped
Extra non stop EDI-Sumburgh flight on weekdays
Day return options from Sumburgh to Kirkwall and Inverness

I would seriously check your facts mate! Whats been typed above is utter rubbish!

My sources are the BA website and The Shetland News Website

airhumberside is correct all the above information is correct!!

Hopefully someone will takeover the GLA-ORK service maybe Aer Arann?

If Aer Arran took the route over, I would expect them to use PIK, their current Glasgow area airport

Yeah!
PIK would be the airport they would fly to if they took the route over.

As to the GLA-DUB/INV would these service's be taken over ? I doubt DUB will be seeing as EI are alreday on theis route. Easten airways would be the ideal operator for GLA-INV and the Wick - Sumburgh flights!

Loganair flights to Wick are not Axed only Wick - Sumburgh Routes.
Also Kirkwall - Wick Airlink restored and now Increased flights between Wick
and Edinburgh. Also looks like some Inverness - Edinburgh Flights dropped.