I'm thinking that the problems Monarch has had is actually very similar to the problems that airlines like BmiBaby, Bmi Mainline and CityJet have had or are having. You could argue that it's inappropriate to compare an insolvent winding up with an orderly wind down, a takeover and a change in business plan, but actually these were responses to the same problem. And in fact Monarch's trading situation wasn't actually that bad; while it did report a massive loss because of an accounting adjustment the underlying trading numbers weren't awful.

You could say it's about prices, but Monarch competed on that and the people still didn't come in sufficient numbers. You could say it's about destinations, but other airlines survived the same problems. You could say it's about product, but all sorts of airlines survive offering all sorts of products. Here you could say it was about ownership, but actually the one thing Greybull did do is put money in (they just didn't change anything so that it wouldn't keep on needing more).

The problem isn't any of the things anyone has mentioned, but I would argue in fact that it has become more difficult for an airline to differentiate and market themselves (and that Monarch didn't do particularly well at this). I think the problem all these airlines have had is that they were smaller versions of things that already existed, and therefore served a dubious purpose that couldn't be effectively marketed due to economies of scale?

Seriously titan have a flight code ? Wow, learn something new everyday !

Nothing good about it, its plain business sense for them where fully trained staff are available and airlines crying out for fully trained staff,

If Mon had been flying 738's then FR would have been first in line.

Good look to all the staff and hope they get picked up quickly.

I pulled Monarch's Account for 2016 earlier today and had a quick read. While the cash line seemed reasonable, the big red flag was the negative reserves at the bottom of the Balance Sheet, some £500m from memory! The Note on Impairments made for uncomfortable reading as well. Nevertheless, a sad day for British aviation.

Titan fly various routes of their own out of STN - e.g. Chambery, Lourdes, Zadar, Calvi, Preveza. Dalaman in the near past. Plus various cruise flights and Lourdes pilgrimages from around the UK.

IATA: ZT
ICAO: AWC
Callsign: ZAP

sorry guys, that was my attempt to lighten the mood slightly, I'm aware of Titan/ZT, I'm aware they fly routes themselves, including freight.


likewise I'm aware that its good business for others to fill vacancies with trained and now redundant staff, its still good to see other airlines stepping up so quickly

Your not back tracking by any chance are you!

Sad :(

https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/...-airline-fails

British authorities are scrambling to bring home 110,000 travellers after Monarch Airlines collapsed, cancelling all flights by what had been Britain's fifth biggest carrier with 2100 employees.

The Civil Aviation Authority said it has leased 30 aircraft to transport Monarch customers scattered around holiday destinations ranging from Turkey to Spain and Sweden. Flights will be provided at no additional cost to passengers.

"This is a hugely distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad, and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK,'' Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said in a statement. "That is why I have immediately ordered the country's biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly about 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been left stranded.''

Some 860,000 customers in all are affected, with 750,000 with future bookings.

Monarch ceased operations after failing to reach a deal with regulators to extend the company's license to sell package holidays to overseas destinations. Monarch Chief Executive Andrew Swaffield said the airline's troubles stemmed from recent terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia and the "decimation'' of the tourist trade in Turkey.

The airline had tried to pivot from short-haul flights to long-haul travel to reduce losses as consumers shied away from Middle Eastern and North African destinations after the June 2015 attack on tourists at a resort in Tunisia, the bombing of a Russian airliner that had taken off from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, a few months later and the attempted coup in Turkey in 2016.

The CAA is advising Monarch customers who are trying to get home from abroad to visit the agency's website for information about their flights. Passengers who were preparing to leave the UK on Monarch flights should not go to the airport.

The first repatriation flight carrying 165 passengers from the Spanish resort island of Ibiza has already arrived at London's Gatwick Airport, the aviation authority said.

"The scale and challenge of this operation means that some disruption is inevitable,'' agency CEO Andrew Haines said. "We ask customers to bear with us as we work around the clock to bring everyone home.''

Monarch's collapse represents the biggest ever failure of a British airline.

KPMG partner Blair Nimmo said administrators are now considering breaking up the company as no buyer has been found to purchase Monarch in its entirety. Counting the airline and tour operator business, the company had 2100 employees.

The airline said companies affected by its failure include Monarch Airlines, Monarch Holidays, First Aviation, Avro, and Somewhere2stay.

"All future holidays and flights provided by these companies have been cancelled and are no longer operating,'' the company said.

Among those affected was a British couple who had intended to fly to Gran Canaria with their family to get married.

Bricklayer Alan Jee, 42, was five minutes away from his scheduled flight time when he learned the news. The flights for 30 of his friends and family - including fiancee Donna Smith - were also affected.

"My missus just burst straight into tears, and my mother-in-law, and my mum,'' he said. "They (Monarch) are doing absolutely nothing about it whatsoever, they've palmed us off.''​

PPF now lose, so basically all UK taxpayers now Monarch has failed. They/we had a 10% stake in the airline. Could the Phoenix rise from the Admin ashes without this burden?

[QUOTE=Tight Accountant;9911778]I pulled Monarch's Account for 2016 earlier today and had a quick read. While the cash line seemed reasonable, the big red flag was the negative reserves at the bottom of the Balance Sheet, some £500m from memory! The Note on Impairments made for uncomfortable reading as well. Nevertheless, a sad day for British aviation.[/QUOTE

Shareholder funds had been wiped out which is probably what was causing concern at the CAA. It never ceases to amaze me that you can be an airline executive and be financially illiterate. If for every £1 coming in, £1.20 is going out of the door then there is no point in whinging about currency movements and terrorism or getting your new strategic plan considered by time wasting consultants, you have to take action to increase yield per passenger and reduce costs.

I think that as soon as they went into administration the insurance would have been suspended. I have heard of cases where The Administrator has arranged and paid for insurance, fuel and crew to collect aircraft from far and wide and return them to either The Administrators, or the financiers of the aircraft's jurisdiction. Tends to happen someway into the process of liquidation when some money has become available.

But greybull sail off into the sunset with your taxpounds! Life's so fair!!

It is more to do with overseas ports; if Monarch owe landing fees, eurocontrol fees, fuel bills etc and one of their planes lands in their creditor's country then there is no way that it will be leaving in a hurry. The creditor would get a lien put on the airframe as quickly as they could get into the courthouse.

This will have happened in the UK too - but it is much easier for UK based administrators to deal with UK assets in a UK court than it is to have them stranded throughout Europe.

What happens next
 

A very sad day for Monarch and particularly its crew, who have had to endure much uncertainty in the last couple of years.

The question is where to from here, what happens next? There will be many competitors interested in aspects of the company, in the current climate i'd guess in particular Gatwick slots and its pilots being most sought after...it has become most apparent with the current Ryanair situation how acute the pilot shortage is, though airbus rated, with deep pockets no doubt the conversion training could easily financed / funded.
The Gatwick slots will be the hottest topic, easyJet will want to maintain its stronghold and Monarch would appear to be the last and biggest opportunity for them to grow their largest base, jet2's success makes LGW a perfect dot on the map, and Ryanair otherwise would appear to be significantly preoccupied with their current challenges to be interested? Though taking Monarch lock stock and barrel could potenytially plug their short term woes and limit some of the reputation damage.. assuming if redeployed into the FR network?

Is a BA/IAG move to be expected? Norwegian would appear to be significantlyn committed with expansion plans at this stage ...

CX is no direct entry Captain, and 10+ years to command for FOs (longer for SOs)

HKA better, but also suffers from very expensive cost of living in HK (you will end up in a tiny flat for £3000/month rent)

Air Macau pays similar to HKA (approx double the UK after tax), is cheaper to live, and *urgently* needs DECs, as well as experienced FOs for rapid command. 9/3 and 5/2 commuting patterns available.

Advert for FOs is here:
https://app.airmacau.com.mo:8080/rec...otice_TFO.html

Well nice to see Mr Swaffield already busy with his new aviation consultancy company.

ALCEDO CONSULTING SERVICES LTD
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/10990438

One word about Titan. I see they have been using an A320 on repatriation flights from Gibraltar. Must have sexperienced flight deck crews familiar with the 'problems' associated with the airport.

I recall the delivery of G-AOVI in 1968, and have flown Monarch both long- and short-haul numerous times. This development is tragic, particularly for the staff.

I do wish that some of the idiots who post on this site blaming the management understood just what management can and can't do. They are subject to the law, the owners, and numerous other interests. I have no doubt that every manager (and they've lost their jobs too), did what they could under difficult circumstances.

LSG; A good point about the management but at some level there was a distinct lack of direction and product placement. It was no secret that their financial basis was unsound.