Plus ça change .......

[PLovett]

A couple of interesting pieces in Wednesday's Australian Financial Review, some of which was repeated in Thursday's Sydney Morning Herald.

The first that QANTAS is thinking of splitting its domestic and international services as part of its ongoing structural review. This is supposedly in order to attract financing which it can't get under its present structure. Would appear to be merely re-arranging the deck chairs. More news supposedly in August.

The second is that Alliance is setting itself up for a buyout. Madly denied but they have supposedly engaged an investment bank to advise. Potential buyers said to include QANTAS, Virgin and Cobham. However, some private equity groups have previously shown interest in Alliance. Its market value is said to be $125m.

The consolidation process will continue until all hope of an aviation industry is lost. :suspect:

[004wercras]

The consolidation process will continue until all hope of an aviation industry is lost.Totally untrue. CAsA is doing very well. They have a robust budget, turned a surplus last year, executive wages are very very healthy, plus the workplace conditions is second to none :ok:
Who said the industry was dead??

[Australopithecus]

It will be interesting to watch what happens when they try to split off domestic, then sell it. Way back in 1992 the Commonwealth couldn't get a trade bidder for Qantas, so they grafted Australian Airlines (nee TAA) onto it to create an entity that had some market appeal. British Airways was the anchor investor with 25%, allowing Mr. Keating to run a successful float to the punters.

I have a photo somewhere of me haranguing him with suggestions on this very topic back in the day. He was looking for a way to escape as I recall. ;)

So now we have the QSA which deals with the entity created out of the union of those two government airlines. What Government has wrought let no man put asunder, etc etc. Splitting off domestic may not be a violation of the letter of the QSA, but it sure as hell seems to be a violation of the spirit of the thing.

Turning back the clock to 1992 when International was unloved abroad, and uncoupling it from the domestic revenue machine does nothing to endear either to investors. Well, it shouldn't, but then again QF investors seem to march to a different drummer. (The same one that beats time in a death march)

Qantas has still not wholly evolved from the old government enterprise days. The airline would have been a lot farther down the road towards modern work practises if management had chosen to engage their staff with a vision and a dialogue. Instead we have wasted ten years; maybe enough to doom us.

[Cost Index]

If I were Qantas or Virgin management I'd be keenly running the ruler over Alliance. Great contracts with astute management and lean employee structure from what I understand. Unfortunately adding thick layers of bureaucracy over a trim operation like Alliance may render it's profitability gone. There is the on-carriage that may mean something and other synergistic benefits however. Interesting to see where this would go. Good time for the Alliance private equity mob to be getting out IMHO

[Cost Index]

Just found this here: (http://www.allianceairlines.com.au/docs/pdfs/2014-07-23---market-speculation.pdf?sfvrsn=2)
23 July 2014

Alliance Aviation Services Limited (ASX code: AQZ)
We refer to the article published in the “Street Talk” section of the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today.

This article has no basis in fact and the company is unsure as to why the AFR published it after having been informed the speculation was untrue.

Alliance is responding to this article so that the market does not use this “false and misleading information.”

[PLovett]

Just found this here:
Quote:
23 July 2014

Alliance Aviation Services Limited (ASX code: AQZ)
We refer to the article published in the “Street Talk” section of the Australian Financial Review (AFR) today.

This article has no basis in fact and the company is unsure as to why the AFR published it after having been informed the speculation was untrue.

Alliance is responding to this article so that the market does not use this “false and misleading information.”


So that's a definite then. :}