Whats up with Oasis????

[ChinaClipper]

Wondering if anyone has the lowdown on Oasis and the future. Hiring plans,, minimums, future growth, pay etc. They seem to have a good capitalization and the business is apparentely doing well. Any info helps...hard Company to get info on...

[HKJunkie]

Heard they have more crew than seats available. Also postponed the next aircraft (#5?) and looking for investors. Anyone else heard this?

[hailer]

It may be reality check time for Oasis, unfortunately. The odds are stacked against them:

1. Main share-holder owes wealth to property empire in US - not place to be at the moment, no matter how sharp you are, if you are trying to finance an airline expansion.
2. Master mind of commercial plan has "left" - probably no endorsement of plan by new investors.
3. All the pundits (except Fernandez) point out that low cost long haul using major airports is a tough call - same airport landing/ handling/ overflight/ navigation/ fuel and other charges. top rates for aircrew. So, some saving on catering - that is not a big deal.
4. Front end traffic is reportedly not generating the revenue expected - falls between two stools? High load factors do not always translate into profitability.
5. Fuel US$2.80 per USG and B744? Was that on the business plan?
6. Whatever the platitudes, the big boys do not like competition on Vancouver and London. Swire have a history of polite British upper class utterances and Attila the Hun actions. That is certainly no surprise to the Oasis CEO.
7. Signs are that they are not attracting the calibre of staff they need other than in the flight deck.

I would like to be totally wrong (it would not be the first time). Maybe Hainan will come along on a white charger and buy them up?

[wayne's tache]

I agree that the cabin crew are an asset. I have flown twice with Oasis and been pleasantly surprised. I think Hailer may be referring more to the other areas of the workforce and especially the Commercial side. They might be charming but you need them to be ruthless.

Plus I don't think the Easyjet analogy is a good one. Yes, they fly from some first tier airports but they spread this over a network that includes lots of second tier destinations. And they only fly short haul, so tougher to make the comparison with Oasis anyway. I would be surprised if Air Asia X ends up flying from many tier one airports.

The Chinese are travelling more and more certainly but is Oasis well placed to access large numbers of Mainlanders? Maybe a tie up with HKA or HKE is underway/planned?

All-in-all, maybe Oasis will make a go of it and you have to respect them for trying. But the jury has to be out until they can prove that they can grow into the next phase.