Airtours to become MyTravel

[LTN man]

AIRTOURS is to change its name to MyTravel, an internal document reveals. Going Places and Travelworld shops will be rebranded MyTravel next month.

In February, the company will seek shareholder approval for the name change to take effect next spring. The airline, Airtours International, will also be rebranded, with the Airtours name kept only for the company's mass-market tour operation.

The document, circulated to a handful of managers and obtained by Financial Mail, says: 'Airtours plc no longer conveys the size and scope of our group of companies.' The company inherited the name MyTravel after last year's £240m purchase of US company TSI, but until now it was expected to be used only as a sub-brand of Airtours.

Meanwhile, Airtours has revealed it will cut up to 500 jobs - a week after claiming the figure was only 100. An Airtours spokeswoman said: 'A more accurate figure now is between 400 and 500 job losses as a result of what has happened.'

All divisions of Airtours' UK business will be affected with the IT and training departments hit badly.

[ 14 October 2001: Message edited by: LTN man ]

[The Guvnor]

When I came up with the PPRuNe exclusive on this about three months ago, I was shot down in flames! "What a load of bollox!" was one of the kinder comments.

Perhaps now certain of my other exclusives might be taken a little more seriously as well! :D :eek: :rolleyes:

[Al T Meter]

Guvnor

Some hope Guv. Any comment 411A? :rolleyes:

[Mike-Hunt]

Guv,

Even when you're right you're WRONG - that's why!

[GuvBuster]

Guvvie,

Isn't it bedtime yet?

[swizzle stick]

LTNman this is SERIOUSLY old news!

Anyone giving a cursory glance over TTG or Travel Weekly any time in the last year or so would be well aware of Airtours' plan to rebrand itself & it's retail travel agency chains to mytravel...to link in with a fully bookable website & call centre operation backing it all up.

This allows for sharing of information between operational units of the group and allowing better targetting of customers eg :personalised adverts on seatback TVs on AIH flights etc.

What's the big hoo-ha? Better use of the information which the company currently holds on it past & present customers - makes sound business sense.

It's All A Swizz......

[Mr Angry from Purley]

Back pages of Financial Mail also wrote

"Not a care in the world as axe falls"
Only a few weeks ago, the company backed down in a dispute with 5 former directors of the travl agent Going Places who were given the boot in march. The holiday firm decided to pay them off to avoid a potentially embarrassing court case. One might have thought that the companys legal eagles would have used that experience to ram into the directors heads the notion that ham-fisted redundancies are ju-ju.
But bo, not a bit of it.
A fortnight back, most of the training dept
was summoned to a Manchester Hotel. They should have feared the worst when the Airtours retail managing director, hero of the going places 5 affair, walked into the room. True to form the Director simply read out a blunt statement to the unsuspecting gathering, telling them that they were being made redundant immediately.

There was also another case of "look guys we've got a problem.There's 3 of you and only 1 job so you decide who's staying.And with that the caring manager walked out of the room....

:mad: :mad: :mad:

[wysiwyg]

'Airtours plc no longer conveys the size and scope of our group of companies.'
...and the name MyTravel does??? I don't think so...

[4 of 7]

Well despite all the vitriol aimed at the Guvnor, he DID forecast this.

Whatever else is right or wrong, if you boys can't give credit where/when its due, it says more about you than about him.

First rule of philosophy, Treat others as you wish to be treated yourself.

Strapping on the Kevlar flak jacket.

[MarkD]

MyTravel - sounds like the kind of marketing boll*x Microsoft would dream up. At least there's no ".com"...

It's not "Diaflyeo" so I suppose it's not as bad as it could have been...

[LTN man]

I wonder what sort of aircraft livery we can expect from MyTravel. Going by what JMC has and now Britannia the trained monkeys will be out with their paint pots

[DoctorA300]

LTN Man,
I didn´t know you had any artistic interrests :D :D :D
Brgds
Doc


Sorry....couldn´t resist

[4 of 7]

Apparently the PR Department is contacting a bloke called Bob Ayling whose wife is a bit of an artist. . . .

[CR2]

Hi DocA300,
Nice sign-off. I just traded my Ericsson for a Nokia... :D :D :D :D

[SFly]

I believe I said this in the aforementioned previous thread but here goes anyway.

Changing the recognized Airtours name to the (just plain daft-sounding) MyTravel would do them no good at all. In fact, it would cause more harm than anything positive.

For passengers, which would they rather turn to, a reputable, well-established travel company, or what would seem from the cover to be a "start up" travel agency.

The Airtours name has been a trusted and popular one for over ten years now. Changing identity, especially in these difficult times, would be absolutely ridiculous.

Most lay people know what you mean when you say "Going Places" or Airtours . . . if people are saying "Yeah, I booked my holiday through MyTravel," then the company has to re-establish themselves rather than growing on the well-built identity that has been dominant in the British holiday market for a decade.

And, to be quite honest, the identity "MyTravel" seems to me to have as much promise for success as any home-run start up agency, which places the Airtours group back at square one . . . not a good management move in any circles.

And anyway, I don't even believe the whole thing anyway. I haven't seen a formal announcement, so I choose not to trust a "document circulated to a handful of managers".

In this horrible time for airlines and tour groups everywhere, this would be a very bad move on Airtours' part.

SFly

[Twin Jet]

Please, please please don't let them change the paint job on the 757, it's one of the best around. Why don't they rename the company something realy catchy - like Consignia - must be off, just going to the POST OFFICE. :confused: