EasyJet to buy Go

[Kalium Chloride]

Oh yes, it's true... :eek:

[I Am Ugly]

Says who?

[BahrainLad]

BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_1966000/1966796.stm

[ajamieson]

EASYJET IN TALKS TO BUY RIVAL GO
By Abigail Townsend, City Staff, PA News
Budget airline easyJet and rival Go are in takeover talks, it emerged today.
EasyJet is seeking to buy Go, spun out of British Airways last year, and said the exclusive negotiations were at an “advanced stage”.
The Luton-based airline added that the move was part of ongoing plans to expand in the European short-haul market.
mfl

[brabazon]

easyGo or GoEasy?

Will it be bubbles or orange?

Interesting news, but will it come off and will Airbus get the combined order?

[Oleo]

Maybe Fanta?

[Mooney]

Had better change my post until........ ;)

[Zulu]

Crikey!

[Blue Bay]

Typical 3i. In for a quick buck and no concerns for the airline and its people. Understandable from their point of view but ho will all at Enterprise House take it.......Orange STN.....how tacky!

[SOPS]

So, is the sale confirmed, or are talks still in progress?:)

[regor]

Mooney - Where did you get your info from? Easy's website says that "they will only conclude negotiations with Go if it is in their shareholders' best interests". It does not say that they are a fore gone conclusion.

Do you have an inside track?

[Dr Faustus]

Sounds like a good idea to me.

The future

Easy fly Boeing and Go fly Airbus.

[steamchicken]

Doesn't selling Go look like a worse decision all the time?

[JB007]

Ditto with Blue Bay,

Very typical 3i !!!! Got rid of us at EXC when the right offer arrived on the table.

But they are an investment company, I was still employed by GO when they were bought by 3i and I always said by year 5 they will sell if the price is right, the contracted built in amount to be given to BA if they sell GO before year 5 was a giveaway of this.. - but by year 1....!Blimey!!!!!!

Makes sense though, I thinks its a fantastic idea, only way they'll be able to compete with Ryanair and now make a serious effort to push BA out of the short haul market altogether...should be very interesting to watch.

[LTN man]

But will easy need two North London hubs only a few miles apart.:confused: :confused:

[Draco]

mmm... 3i will be pleased.

They will make loads of cash from this but it isn't a nice place to work. I used to work there for a while, but was told that I didn't fit in.

I took that as a compliment. :)

[mjenkinsblackdog]

Why didnt easyjet cosider buying Go when it was cheaper last year I wonder.
3i got it at a song compared to its value now.:cool:

[Landing_24R]

I wonder if there is any chance Easyjet will keep the two easy and go brands seperate, continuing to run Go out of STN and EZY out of LUT, but perhaps code-sharing on services and co-operating in that way?

Probably no chance whatsoever :(

Shame, I like Go

[VIKING9]

Well, I've already had calls from 2 GO pilots saying it's confirmed and they are not wanting to work for EZY. Can they be that choosy I ask ? :rolleyes:

[Dead Leg...Dead ?]

Easycom..... EasyGo

[Charley]

I suspect that Easyjet are interested now given;

Ryanair's increased profits in the last year
Ryanair's order for 150 737s, perhaps a signal of their confidence and intent
The fact that both Go and Easy are looking to buy new aircraft - imagine the bargaining power of a joint order
A harsh, ongoing price war between Easy and Go which could be curtailed by a acquisition/merger


refs:
FT.com (http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3GOKW5S0D&live=true&useoverridetemplate=ZZZ99ZVV70C&tagid=IXLB0PYY8CC), UK-wire (http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200205031511275039V.html)

[Amazon man]

And pray why JB007 why would you want to push BA out of the shorthaul market we are a large group of pilots as entitled to a job as you are.

BA has its problems but is attempting to overcome them and I am not aware of any plans to try and push GO or EASY out of the market. In fact thanks to BA investing in GO in the first place a lot of pilots have a job they might not otherwise have so think on that.

Please if you have nothing more constructive to say then I suggest you shut up, the aviation business seems to be increasingly filled by people like yourself who want nothing more than to see other companies fail. Like society as a whole aviation is slowly descending into the gutter and your comments only help to accelerate it.

[Ranger One]

So what will the combined outfit be called? Go Easy? :D ;) :D

(I'll expect royalties if that's what they do go for! :D )

R1

[regor]

How about 'GoEasy ' for a new brand name!

Does anyone know who conducts type conversion training for GO?

Is it done in-house or outsourced?

Just speculating amongst myself whether my job will be affected!

[Blue Bay]

mjenkins
I heared that Easy tried to buy Go from BA in the past for approx £200m. BA refused.......Do we believe that?? Who knows!

[Goforfun]

Pretty much set in stone over at STN.

EasyJet and Go will make a massive fighting force. May we be united as a team and deliver the best we can do in harmony.

[akerosid]

Given that the EZY/GO talks were probably going on for a good few weeks, I can't understand why Go announced an Airbus deal on the same day as this news came out. My initial reaction was with both airlines flying large 737 fleets, Airbus would lose out, but I am wondering whether, as part of the deal, EZY would also convert to the 737.

What is the actual position with regard to the Airbuses? I would still be surprised if they got them; surely the best solution would be a joint 737-700 (with maybe a few -800s as well) order from both, which would probably equal the FR order in size?

[quaerereverum]

This is a very interesting move. Quite apart from the benefits of route expansion (as there is relatively low overlap between the two carriers), they will be able to merge backoffice functions, and help reduce costs further.

(Incidentally, there is a misconception afoot amongst journalists, and thus the public, that Easy and its "low cost" colleagues actually means "low price". It does not; except if you book zillions of years in advance. As someone who travels on spur-of-the-moment/whim/lastminute, I have never found Easy/Go/Ryanair/Buzz/BE "low cost", and have invariably obtained much better and cheaper fares with BMI. And, before we get the usual flames, NO, I have nothing to do with them)

Anyway, the bbc biz correspondent on R4 was mentioning numbers in the region of £400M, so 3i will make a seriously tidy profit.

But more interesting was his assertion that Easy want to woo the biz traveller, while Ryanair will continue to pursue the holidaymaker. So, the question is, when can we expect to see 2 class cabins on Easy/Go? And will there be a move away from the bunfight/free-for-all/weakest-go-to-the-wall boarding policies currently employed?

Is this a classic case of consolidation and maturity; barrowboy turned respected high street trader, poacher turned gamekeeper, etc? If so, where is the new future of aviation? Who are going to be the "new kids on the block" stirring the pot in the way that Branson/Stelios have done in the past?

My bet is on the next gen "fly-me-now" "air taxi" operators, whose credo will be that you can fly directly (and at relativly low cost) from A to B, where-u-want, when-u-want without passing thru LHR/LGW/STN/LTN/etc with all the attendant hassle that implies (transport/checkin/security/missing aircraft/air traffic delays/destination holds/etc).

A very good rehearsal of the relevant arguments can be found at http://www.farnborough-aircraft.com/article.asp?ID=2 though other suitable (dreamy!) aircraft spring to mind, eg the Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 business jet (http://www.sj30jet.com/home.htm).

And, of course, this would reduce/remove the need for more "Big Iron" runways at LHR/etc. Which, counter to the usual opinion would be VERY good for aviation; after all, more planes means more pilots! (OK, there would be less need for "Big Iron", but bigger craft actually means less pilots!)

Anyway, just my $0.02

[splonguk]

Sounds like a quick and simple way for EasyJet to expand into the areas of Europe which Go has conquered eg Spain.

I do hope however that it doesn't go ahead as I am sure the only ones to suffer again will be the pax. Someone a few posts ago mentioned that 3i were only in it for a quick buck or £300m but my experience with low-cost carriers is that they are all only in it for the money.

[flysr4ever]

BBC News at 10 said an announcement would be made on Wednesday. Price is reported to be around 400 Million British Pounds.

Personally, I am not too happy with it. Why buy Go now? They could have been bought just last year for a quater of the price. That said, it does have its benefits for easyJet as mentioned before.

[Tom the Tenor]

Has Michael O'Leary reacted to this news yet? Some serious competition now for Ryanair if all this is true. What will this do to prices? Hope it all works out better for the consumer than the BA taking over of CFE, British Regional, Brymon etc. Huge economies of scale to be had now if Easygo takes off and a combination of both new Boeing and Airbus aircraft should work out fine in the long run. Hope everyone gets to keep their job too.

[Unwell_Raptor]

"they are all only in it for the money."


As opposed to what?

[electricblue]

Has Michael O'Leary reacted to this news yet?

Ryanair shrugs off rivals' link talks (http://www.onbusiness.ie/2002/0503/easyjet.html)


Ryanair is unconcerned by the threat of a combined Easyjet and Go operation, following today's announcement they are in talks.

Ryanair's chief financial officer Michael Cawley said both airlines still had significantly higher cost bases than Ryanair, and were unlikely to compete with Ryanair head-to-head; instead focusing on travelling to primary airports and taking passengers off traditional carriers.


In a statement today Easyjet confirmed the negotiations to buy Go were in advanced stage, and said it was making the announcement because it feared the talks had been leaked.


Go is currently owned by its management and venture capital company 3i, who bought the company off British Airways nearly two years ago.


In December Go pulled out of a route to Edinburgh it launched out of Dublin, after just two months, citing 'extreme levels' of competition from Ryanair.


EasyJet started in 1995 and now flies to 45 destinations using 31 aircraft. Its main base is Luton airport and the carrier also flies from Gatwick and Liverpool. Its overseas airport hubs are at Amsterdam and Geneva.


The carrier employs 1,900 staff and posted profits of £40.1m sterling for the year ending September 2001 on turnover of £356m.


Go started as a British Airways subsidiary in May 1998 under the leadership of American Barbara Cassani. Based at Stansted airport, the airline operates a 22-strong fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft to 38 destinations. Independent from BA since last year, Go has 900 employees and also operates from Bristol and East Midlands airports.

[FreightNight]

I bet Easy wish they hadn’t painted "STOP GO" all over their fleet all those years ago............:D

[PaddyOpants]

Do you mean this one...
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/217254/M/
Funny how things turn out...

[JB007]

Amazon Man, - your not a management pilot are you ?

Mmmm, people like me who want to see companies fail !!! Rather a sweeping statement considering we've never met - good lord, heaven forbid I have an opinion !!!!
It has nothing to do with Pilots losing jobs or whos entitled to what....chill-out man!!!!

Welcome to the 21st Century Airline business in the Uk!!!

Do you really think Babs and Stellios are thinking "Ok, so we have the monopoly on the Uk Euro short haul market, oh dear, but what about all those other short haul pilots in the Uk" !!!!

Isn't BA's core business long haul ? And GO was started by BA in direct competition to EZY due to the amount of business it was taking from them, just like GO and babyBMI !!!

Wake up and smell the coffee !

[Cordon Negro]

I‘ll never know how the press manage to get to the proposed sale figure of £400m – indeed I seem to recall that they bandied that figure about during the original sale by BA, whereas in the end the figure was closer to £100m – and given that that sale was only about one year ago, to sell it now for four times that figure would be a truly astounding investment !

It would be fair to say that easyJet have out-grown Luton (indeed they did that years ago), and as such they’re migrating heavily to south of the Thames at LGW, and with this buyout news in the offing they’ll no doubt be looking to move across to STN – where previously such a move was made almost impossible by the three STN incumbent low cost operators RyanAir, Go and Buzz.
It might also be fair to say that 3i might have seemingly got the jitters about their aviation portfolio – e.g. post 911, and / or is Go really delivering the promised returns ?! – so as such they might well indeed be looking for an ‘early out’ and accordingly settle for a modest return on their investment ( say, a sale of £150m ? ) which would still yield a pretty healthy and facing saving return over the investment period.

Logistically there is some degree of commonality in the eJ & Go operations (aircraft types, company systems, etc), and as such a absorption of much of it would be fairly (?) straightforward.
However I would hazard a guess that, should this sale complete, any proposals for Go to change fleets to Airbus might get the chop – the point being that, as a guess, they are (were) contemplating doing this to provide some sort of market ‘differentiation’ against the other low cost products, i.e. the Airbus has slightly more pax appeal courtesy of a wider cabin, etc, plus the flexibility provided by being able to mix-and-match the various aircraft capacities (A319/320/321) to your route demand for seats, with added flexibility of commonality of crew training / type-rating; Of course one can only imagine the deal being offered to do as such must be very appealing, because during the migration period running two fleet types (Airbus and Boeing) with all the crewing problems, etc, is a very expensive proposition (especially so when you already have 22 B737’s).
There again, maybe there are some economies of scale to be had by consolidating the operations and perhaps the big plan is to move the whole bloomin’ lot (Go and eJ) across to Airbus narrow bodies ( now there’s a rumour ! )

W.r.t. the Go staff – there will almost certainly be some headcount reductions due to the economies of scale and rationalisation of routes and capacity (uhm, especially so if, say, they use A321 on the popular sunshine routes).
Of course one can be pretty sure that the directors of Go will come out of it smelling of roses, e.g. Babs will indeed walk away with her £4m - and she was after all only intending to stay for two years after the sale by BA - with the other Go directors getting their £2m each.
As for the other staff, well I’d be amazed if the much muted ‘one years salary’ bonuses ever materialise – but like much at Go, it’s always been case of “Jam Tomorrow !”

[Gypsy]

Whats it going to be called ?

As EZY is negotiating to buy GO I expect it will be called EASYJET - Stelios has no need and no I can't see him wanting to change the name. As for who will be CEO...............

Amazon man - a bit wet behind the ears I think. You said "BA have no plans to push EZY out of the market" - that because BA are concentrating on trying to save themselves - they are about a million miles away from even being in a position to think about pushing EZY out.

Assuming you were born more than 10 years ago you might have heard of BA's antics with regard to Laker, Air Europe, Virgin, Dan Air etc, so although it is nothing personal between the pilots involved, many people outside BA have no love for them.

[Roobarb]

Consolidation throughout the industry was never going to be a surprise, but this merger seems to make sense and one might say ‘yep, why not?’. The real gain for Easy here is the many qualified 737 trainers who are in short supply at the moment. Many retired Nigels moved over to Go for the evening of their careers, trainers and all (including Figment for a while). I don’t buy for one moment the wholesale re-equipping with Airbus either, it simply doesn’t make sense to spend millions reshaping your operation if you’ve already gone down the Boeing route. It increases your transitional costs disproportionately in relation to the supposed savings. Why else would BA be doing it.

For BA to have made a hash of Go is no surprise either. The concept, as we know was right, but the implementation and the management was not. To have two diametrically opposed products competing on the same routes was stupid. Why charge £500 club to Milan Linate from Heathrow and also £30 to the same airport from Stansted. It was flawed fundamentally. What was required was clear blue water between the two products. Offering the Full Monty from Heathrow to Milan Linate, and the cheap and cheerful on Stansted to Bergamo would have contrasted the two products and delineated the choice. There are two markets, two concepts. You don’t go to the Ritz Hotel and ask for a Travelodge room.

One thing that I will take issue with though is the concept of crew costs. Nigels get bad press here and elsewhere, not the least from our own management. But I had from the horse’s mouth from someone who was in a position to know, that if Go had to operate out of LHR on the same routes, then they would show a similar cost base. The idea that Nigels are expensive is a fallacy, and one that we have poorly promoted. BA costs are purely and simply down to the headcount of numpties.

Nice to hear about a success in the airline industry, anything that secures and increases pilot jobs is a good thing. Good Luck to all.

http://www.80scartoons.8k.com/roobarb10wee.gif

[5150]

Well said gypsy

[Unwell_Raptor]

Now let me see....

BA starts up low-cost airline to compete with its own product.

BA changes its mind and sells low-cost airline for not much money

Low-cost airlines thrive, and look to be the future in Europe

BA modifies its product to compete with the burgeoning low-cost carriers

BA's former offspring is sold for almost four times what BA got for it.

BA now has no serious low-cost product, but has helped to create a formidable competitor.

Now that's what I call management!

[Orangewing]

Splonguk, just a small point but when exactly did go "conquer" Spain? I think easy might have the market share, with 27 flights a day to Spain (if you include PMI), and 3 a day ( I think) to Madrid, a route which go pulled out of some time ago!

Regards, :D

[JW411]

I am constantly fascinated by the likes of Amazon man. They work for an organisation with absolutely no scruples when it comes to trying to get rid of the opposition and yet they have this desperate need to be loved by the rest of us and can't understand why we don't want to.

Lord King and his merry men honed-up a wonderful Dirty Tricks Department that ruined the careers of hundreds and hundreds of pilots (including me). I do not remember receiving anything more than token sympathy from the BA pilots of the day.

I hope the easyJet buyout of Go proceeds. The combination could produce some real competition.

[mjenkinsblackdog]

According to the ft the airline will just be called EASYJET.
Barbara will walk with between 14 to 20 million inher purse.
It will all c0me out in the wash.

[Goforfun]

Roobarb,

we didn't fly into Bergamo. But Milan Linate. All the airports Go fly into are the major internationals which BA does- with the exception of Rome (CIA).

[Roobarb]

I know you don’t fly to Bergamo, that’s precisely my point. What was the point of competing head to head with your premium product? Milan/Linate generates a large volume of premium traffic, it’s popular with the Milanese, (unlike Malpensa) and is a feeder for BA longhaul from Fortress Heathrow. GO chases a completely separate market, ie the low fare point to point passengers. Flying to Bergamo (which we used to from LHR) is also popular with the Milanese, but would not be the airport of choice for the business traveller. The list of alternative airports is long and RyanAir have expolited some useful ones. I would have offered Rotterdam, Hamburg, Nurnburg, Schonefeld, Malmo, Bromma, Bergen, Orly, Lyons, Perpignan, Bordeaux, Malaga, Oporto, Faro, Bratislava, Ostrava, Bergamo, Ciampino, and Pafos. To name but a few.

All these destinations would have covered popular tourist destinations, with connections for those business travellers without an expense account None of these destinations are served from Fortress Heathrow and so the two products would have complimented each other, not competed with each other.

I have no problem at all with the low fares option, but it has to be carefully placed within your product range. You must protect brand and product, I don’t think you’ll find many other successful companies who have launched two products that compete with themselves. It’s common sense.

The notion to be involved with the low fare sector was correct, the implementation was wrong.
http://www.80scartoons.8k.com/roobarb6wee.gif

[ducksoup]

JB 007

"Isn't BA's core business long haul?"

No it is not. Perhaps you are too young to remember BEA and BOAC, companies which were merged to form BA.

Futhermore, if the guy you odiusly ask the question, "are you management by any chance?" is indeed management, does this mean that his opinion is automatically tainted, or perhaps he does not even warrant having said opinion?

Management and an entrepreurial vision probably arranged for you to have a job in our business in the first place.

[STOP STOP]

Despite what you think of BA and it starting GO and selling it off - Guess who Guarantee's the leases for GO's 737's whilst they expand!

10 Points! - Good Old British Airways.

;)

[Slim20]

Is this a done deal??

Call me a cynic - but won't all this speculation do wonders for EZY's share price - yeah got that one right didn't I???
How about "EasyGoing" for a moniker??

[essexeng]

DO YOU THINK THEY WOULD WANT THEM STOP STOP!

[Extended Range]

Supposing 'GO' is sold for 400 million do any 'GO' pilots have an idea how much we will be given for our share options?;)

[Charley]

Looks like Mr Branson has realised that his beloved VEX might be left peeing in the wind. Virgin Express have expressed an interest in 'co-operating' with EasyJet once it acquires Go.

On another note, Babs is apparently unhappy at 3i's decision to sell Go (even if she is going to get a big fat cheque from it).

Read it all on FT.com here (http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3KN9Z7V0D&live=true&tagid=ZZZYF7I2B0C&subheading=transport).

Shame, I rather liked Go and their brand. Stelios has already said publicly that none of the Go branding or livery would be retained, Easyjet is definitely 'acquiring' not 'merging'.

[Oleo]

Extended Range: the ordinary Go staff own 10.5% of the company. If it is sold for 400 mill then 10.5 % is 42 mill. I think there are 900 employees....

Can it be that simple?

[nice_beaver]

I doubt it would be that simple and besides i don't believe the 'ordinary staff' as you so elequently put it owned any of Go. Wasn't it majority owned by 3i ( 67.5% ) and then Barclays Private Equity ( 10% ) and the rest ( 22.5% ) by Babs and her senior managers.
As for share options being of any value, again a little unlikely as it was still in Private hands, having not yet been floated.
I'm afraid as always it likely to be the big earners making the big dosh!!

[Amazon man]

JB007, JW411

Not management and only in BA because my company was bought out and yes fully aware of what BA management are capable of in the dirty tricks department, Iam a former employee of an airline where BA was rumoured to have had a big hand in trying to bring the business down, though nothing was ever proven.

But heartily sick of people like yourself who somehow seem to take great delight in the misfortune of others, I have been unfortunate to have been made redundant several times in my flying career and I wouldn't wish it on any other pilot, British Airways Pilots are not your enemy they're like yourself just trying to earn a living, maybe not having always lived in the real world but gradually becoming used to it with the rise of the so called budget airlines.

The aviation business used to be full of polite and pleasant people that was the joy of being in aviation, people like yourselves just mirror what is happening in society as a whole, if you have nothing to say but make comments along the lines of seeing BA out of the shorthaul market which would of course have the effect of putting BA pilots out of work than perhaps its better not to say anything at all.

Here endeth my diatribe.

[Cordon Negro]

Only A Few More Seasons - you sound a tadge bitter-and-twisted old son - in that, reading between the lines of your post, it might seem that you're miffed that somebody did rather better out of their investment than you did (from their investment).

Q). Would you please enlighten us as to your personal financial contribution (i.e. investing serious amounts of your own money) in to any airline venture that you have been involved with - and what was the outcome ?

It might seem that somewhere along the road you've got it into your head that it's a crime to make big bucks - well it's not. Indeed if you invest YOUR money in a venture then it's only reasonable to have a return on that investment, i.e. you're the one who's taking the initial risks (not the employees - they're getting paid, you might not be), and with that, the risk of losing it all, deserves a payback down the road.

As is often said, "Money makes money" and "You've got to speculate to accumulate".


Uhm (hence the edit), what happened to the post by 'Only A Few More Seasons' that was immediately above this one - it's disappeared ?!........ Ah, hold on one minute, I've still got the orginal cached in my browser, so here it is.......

'Only A Few More Seasons' wrote:

Never trust venture-capitilists they are only in it for the dosh.

A bit of history - Brad Burgess/Rob Wright gave 3i their first profitable interest in airlines when they sold Connectair to Air Europe in the 80s - both BB/3i have been milking airlines/the system ever since.

Oh and by the way (history repeats itself) watch Astreaus another Burgess deal with Aberdeen ------whatever they are called another venture dosh deal.

I bet Babs won't be on the bottom of the seniorty list of the next company she joins either!!
Duh, as if being in it 'only for the dosh' is some sort of crime.

So OAFMS, please grow up mate, either that or go back to your Communist utopian dream !

E.g. What's the difference between a (sustainable) privately owned company, and one that's (unsustainably) owned by The State ? Answer = Profits !

Ps. Your understanding of correct spelling is pretty p!ss-poor too, e.g.

capitilists = Capitalists
Astreaus = Astraeus
seniorty = seniority

Uhm, so maybe you should take your hard earnt 'dosh' and invest in a spell-checker; I'll hazard a guess that it'll almost certainly yield a higher return than your comprehension of 'free-market-forces' ever will ! ;)

[JW411]

Amazon Man:

"The aviation business used to be full of polite and pleasant people.....".

I actually thought things had improved on that front over the last 40 years.

You're not one of those Dan chappies who happened to have a 737 rating when BA bought them out are you? If so, that could hardly be counted as a disaster could it?

[Yacht Man]

Ok chaps and chapess's

Steady on!!

Does anybody actually have any updated information on this topic??

[The Greaser]

What are peoples opinions on how this potential 'acquisition' will affect flightdeck recruitment with easyJet?

[NoJoke]

Well I'm ex- Dan Air and was thrown to the wolves by a certain Company. Out of a job for a long time thanks to them. Its about time thier arragance was rewarded. :mad: We have long memories. ;)

[mjenkinsblackdog]

Funny one today at nice the go CHAP said we will follow the company.The aircraft in front was an Easyjet,may be the Go knows something we dont.:cool:

[orange pilot]

If the buy-out goes through, lets then get on with making the new company work. PS what`s EMA base like?:) :)

[Scallywag]

Orange pilot.....EMA is one of the best kept secrets in aviation, lovely place. Never see any of our flight deck leaving, all too happy. With all that's going on it could do with a terminal extension and more ramp space. Whatever happens let's hope the flightcrew fraternity can rise above all the bickering.

Hope you enjoy EMA, Scally.

[noflare]

Scallywag.....BRS is much better......ooh aar:D

[jetblues]

Question may have been asked before but what will happen to pilot recruitment now ?

Will easy & go put their recruitment on hold until an announcement has been confirmed AND legally settled ?

[LoGo]

noflare . . . . the BRS base is bostin (less than a minute from Car to Crewroom, hassle free ATC, lovely part of the country, friendly staff) but I've yet to see gale force fog at EMA!
:p

[noflare]

LoGo ....Gale Force fog...put hairs on yer chest laddie! :D

[JW411]

No Joke:

It looks like I hit the nail on the head for Amazon man has gone incredibly quiet!

I therefore deduce that he missed the experience of being in the left seat of a very nice aeroplane one day and then spending 13 months working part-time in pubs whilst watching his savings evaporate despite sending out over 300 CVs around the world.

I was screwed by BA before the Dan disgrace (didn't BALPA do well?) but we employed quite a few ex-Dan guys in my present company and they have some very interesting tales to tell.

[Amazon man]

JW411,

No Iam still here and for your info have been happily ensconced in the left seat of a very nice aircraft for several years sorry to disappoint.

Redundancy back in 1990 screwed up my career aspirations for several years but unlike yourself it seems, I didn't sit around blaming everyone though there were lots to blame, I got myself another job and have been luckily employed ever since.

Mind you with people like yourself in this industry I do sometimes wonder why I bother,at least I can comfort myself with the thought that I dont have to sit next to you in my flightdeck.

[JW411]

Amazon man:

Sorry if I wrongly guessed that you were ex-Dan with a 737 rating. I am also pleased that you are comfortably ensconced in the left seat of a nice aeroplane for this means that there is absolutely no chance of flying with you unless you would like me sit on your lap!

[Landing_24R]

Anyone care to venture an opinion as to the timescale involved if the merger does go ahead? Are we talking Go becoming Easy immediately, or after the summer season? I know no-one knows for sure, but anyone got an opinion? I'm supposed to be flying Go in July, will it be Easyjet?

[Metal Mickey]

Easy makes £1m, GO makes £17m - is the tail wagging the dog here?

Anyway, if the deal does go ahead along the structures proposed can I suggest that Easy management spend a week wandering the corridoors of Enterprise House and see first hand how great staff morale is generated, this in turn generating voluntary high productivity levels, in turn generating £17m.

First time I've worked for a company where people at all levels in all departments make a point of going out of their way to assist in any way they can.

(Maybe Easy's the same - Can anyone enlighten me?).

[outofsynch]

land24r ... believe it to be a two year transition planned. Altho I guess callsigns etc will change immediately.

Process all gone very quiet. Think profit announcemnt may have given 3i the idea of upping the price.

Go was about to float anyway so that may be a better option now too.

[Cpt Caveman]

Go profit was based on full year results where as easyJet's profit of £1 million was for the six month winter period.
Last years full year profits were £40 million:cool: