Velvet Sky

[Ghost_Rider737]

Bookings now open....

I got a return ticket for R840....JNB-DUR-JNB..(over the easter weekend)
Fly Velvet Sky (http://www.flyvelvetsky.com/)

:ok:

Inaugral flight on the 22nd of March...

[putt for dough]

Seems you paid too much..... Website advertising R200 one way.

[Solid Rust Twotter]

Ja, but it's another 600 odd clams if you want to get home again.:}

[Farting Sloth]

Anybody know if they are hiring and if so how do we apply. I cannot seem to find anything in this regard on their website.:ugh:

[tamboekie]

Have a look at www.staffweb.co.za (http://www.staffweb.co.za)
As far as I know they do the recruitment for Velvet Sky.

[Farting Sloth]

Thanks tamboekie.

[Malagant]

They only looking for 737-300 RATED crew! They don`t want to spend money rating crew, it is a low budget affair! :ok:

[Flymecpt]

Check out one of the first Velvet Sky Flight Reviews - Online Travel (http://www.onlinetravel.co.za)

[Capetonian]

Interesting, I do hope they survive and prosper, but I don't think that is a realistic hope in the current climate.

[Foo-Fighter]

Q4NVS - Point taken: My post had no relevance here and is retracted without reservation. I was out of line.

[Sound Barrier]

Foo-Fighter; where the :mad: do you get your gen from????

[Q4NVS]

Mr. Foo...
As a current SAX employee yourself, you sure don't shy away from publicly "Biting the Hand that Feeds you" :ugh:

Maybe you should consider jumping ship to Velvet Sky then...I'm sure your SAX Performance Bonus will be sufficient to buy a B733 Rating somewhere.

[fly4x4]

foo...

You sound like a junior pilot who took a CPT position to get to the left seat quicker and now you moan how much you work. It is the dash drivers who do the 45 hrs. Get your facts straight, 700 not on DUR-CPT yet cos there is a thing called C checks. Wish guys like you would just f... off to a greener co. if they will have you.

[Beechdrivr]

Heard from someone that their aircraft was grounded by SAAT last night. A few very disgruntled pax i believe. Any truth to this? They have just started operating, pretty unbelievable if it's true!:uhoh:

Also heard Mr Bricknell involved with this lot, sounds like old Nationwide tricks coming to the fore again:eek:

But then again, this is what i heard, so anyone with more info please fill us in.

Safe flying BD:ok:

[Cable Tie]

I really hope Vermon is not involved. I would like to shoot him in both knee caps. I know some very good friends who work there, and for their sake I hope he is not involved............ I truly doubt it because he is operating his 3 old B737-200 in the Congo........ Well that is what I hear. At least there aircraft gets repaired; I would rather have a few disgruntled pax than a few dead pax.

[Deskjocky]

Hopefully VB isn’t involved.
Personally I think these guys may have a shot at making it. The way they have structured the business- start small, with one aircraft, fly it hard and get the utilization to a reasonable level before increasing the fleet. Hopefully they should be able to keep the costs under control from the start, plus there aren’t that many seats to sell first up so the exposure is reduced. There are a number of ACMI options available to them should they need to bring in seasonal capacity or cover for their frame should it go technical for an extended period at least for the first few months of operation.
The thing that really bothers me about the current pricing models in the market is that each carrier is just trying to be a few rand cheaper than its competitors- especially the “LCC’s” what happened to them competing for pax off the bus market- remember when Mango started this was the target? Now all the LCC’s want is ancilerary revenue and more corporate traffic off the legacy carriers. Nothing wrong with that unless you are buying tickets in your personal capacity.
So to me this is where the opportunity lies, go out to be as cheap as possible and the market will move- they will fly at whatever time they can save the most. This means Velvet can just fly the 1 aircraft to what ever schedule they choose- so long as it stays in the air and gets the utilization up.
Good luck to them, completion is great- especially privately funded competition= no deals done on any routes to reduce capacity to increase yields. It also translates into more jobs.
Hopefully they have enough cash in the bank to see them through what I’m sure will be a slow start, if they can then it will be great to see how the market reacts to a new player.

[proceeding outbound]

I couldnt disagree more. Every time that one aircraft goes tech (and they do), you annoy and fail 100% of your passengers. Every time it goes in for maintenance it cost you plenty to get someone else in.

The sooner they get to multiple aircraft the sooner they have a chance of survival. I dont know of any successful airlines that only have one aircraft.

[Deskjocky]

The point here is that whilst they are in the vulnerable start up phase, its a strategy that keeps costs down. there a ton of acmi guys in JNB at the moment- rates are very competitive. Especially when compared to keeping a spare frame sitting at the hanger, or worse flying it around half empty, with the associated costs such as crew, fuel etc etc...

Terms of peeving the customers off, if the price is right they will come back, most of the LCC's in SA have subjected pax to some pretty lengthy delays and have suffered no ill effects.

Passengers are a fickle bunch- they will swear off a carrier due to a horrible experince and next trip choose them again if the price is right.

Air travel is a commodity.

[Capetonian]

Passengers are a fickle bunch- they will swear off a carrier due to a horrible experince and next trip choose them again if the price is right.

The fact that Ryanair is still around is living proof of the truth of this. I have intelligent, well-educated, well-travelled friends who use them, and always swear they never will again because of X and Y and Z .... then they do. Again and again.