757/767's withdrawn
 

Understand from a colleague in BA that there will be cutbacks for the winter on capacity which is probably nothing new but the remaining 767's and 757's will be taken out of service and parked somewhere?

Lets face it, nothing can happen until BASSA and IFS have made up their mind on what new aircraft they want:ugh:

Apologies for thread drift
 

Chinooker

I am truly amazed, in the current environment, that BA can continue to offer a four-class service. Although premium economy (WTP) is seat configuration only so I suppose its more like 3.5 classes, I was surprised, that with the launch of the new club product, that it wasnt branded as "business first" like Continental.

Would love to know the economics of First vs Club on a seat-mile basis adjusted for seat density.

The major fleet upgrade would give a great opportunity to convert, and during the transition give full fare J and exec club pax the opportunity to use the former F facilities.

Pinkman

Fights full in F
 

Certain routes are almost always Full in FIRST...and for those that fly BA on a regular basis, you know that BA does not dish out upgrades like dollies mixtures as do some of the US carriers (thus devaluing the product). Oversales are the only chance you stand of a free movement to a higher cabin.

Routes such as LHR-JFK/HKG/JNB/CPT/LAX/LOS/IAH are always 90-100 % Full in First. Selective routes no longer carry First such as YUL/CCU/DAC/LUN/DAR/EBB/DEN the new GIG route come this winter.

Until QF/CX/AA/LH/AF decide to ditch First, it's here to stay (albeit perhaps on fewer routes).

We have some very loyal customers who will only fly with us in First. Remember years ago, a First customer downgrading herself to Club due to a seat malfunction...She had never sat "down there before..."and wouldn't if given the choice as there were too many people.

One suspects Boeing would be doing everything possible to keep anything Airbus out of BA with respect to the 787 delay compensation package. If they can slide a few -300s into the BA fleet instead of paying hard cash or leases on another manufacturer's airframes, they'll do it; it's a bit of a free option for Boeing, if the customer is happy enough with them then some might stick and be harder to unseat in any future contest. They would rather take a hit on getting airframes into a fleet than have to punch a few out of the factory and fly them straight to Victorville and end up carrying the same cost at the end of the day.

The early 744s would be well out of lease by now and be fully depreciated. They make pure money but are more expensive to run than a Tripler, in both fuel and maint terms. If Boeing are effectively paying for the first few years of 777-300 operation (under a compensation package) then the economics point well towards the Tripler.

Actually, didn't BA secure some purchase rights or options over any 777 model (ie. basically just reserve delivery slots) when they firm-ordered the extra four -236ERs in Feb last year? Ten seems to ring a bell...

Flight has picked up on a possible 777-300 deal for BA, with delivery around 2010.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...ridge-787.html

From Flight:Is this "industry source" a certain CHINOOKER of Ruislip who lays awake all night thinking of new rumours to post on PPRuNe instead of going to sleep before an early start?;)

False Capture,
Many thanks for that,...i've always wanted to be considered an "industry source". As for laying awake all all night thinking up new rumours,well after a long day at BA the brain just isn't that active!
All i have tried to report on here is what our bosses in Engineering have told us in recent meetings and what i have personally "gleaned" from talking to people in the relevant departments....one being the Engineering Quality Dept.

As for spreading rumours,well,(without wishing to stir up a hornet's nest here),i can recall one some weeks back where a whole bunch of pilots were going to "kick ass" over a new business class airline flying B757s......perhaps i'm not alone in having sleepless nights!!

oh yes I forgot. CHINOOKER was BAEngineering was oh I forget now but it was several consecutive persona all over the original T5 thread like a rash. So can we simply deduce that his bedtime is of no real consequence other than possibly affecting the quality of his next rumour :ok:

Slip and Turn,
Sorry to disappoint you old chap,but i have NEVER posted on here as "BAEngineering" or any other name!!. If you read my posts,i actually state that i work in BA Engineering,as one of thier long suffering,(and increasingly rarer),licensed engineers!

Oh well please forgive me CHINOOKER - I thought I'd detected something that obviously I hadn't :O

South Africa bilateral agreement allows more flights
 

I saw this report mentioned elsewhere on the Net:-That'll be the end of the idea of using Comair to get the extra frequencies, then?

Indeed Globaliser, indeed. The UK~ZA run is one of the very few money spinners left and with the small problem of Nationwide's 3x weekly rotations removed and routes out of MAN not working ... applying surplus capacity to this route must be a good idea for them.

I have just booked to travel from LCY - BCN with BA CityFlyer. Can anybody tell me as to what inflight service to expect? Is this the same service a BA Connect flight? Thanks

by all accounts the on board service on Cityflyer ex LCY is very good
depending on time of travel you should get hot meal, and pudding drinks service, tea/coffee etc. all sounds very pleasant!

We all think it's called openskies and has been spoken about on here on numerous threads for the best part of a year!!:rolleyes:

New route Gatwick-Valencia
 

Does anyone know why BA has chosen to start flying from Gatwick to Valencia? Both Iberia and GB Airways (the latter on its own then, later, as a BA franchise carrier) have in the past experienced difficulties sustaining a profitable operation. BA will have to compete against Clickair, easyJet and Ryanair, with Clickair having the more lucrative route to Heathrow. Is there room for another operator?

Valencia does seem a bit random! Seville would have been a far better choice! lol:O

Project 'Columbus' from BA
 

Anyone have anymore info regarding this. Have heard that this is the foundation for BAs own 'JETSTAR' style operation... :uhoh:

So it this going to be BA going full circle with a GO MKII or is it just switiching some existing routes to low cost (rather than go after a "bucket and spade" market). It does seem odd, they could have bought GB Airways and expanded this at LGW.