Maersk in the UK

[mikegreatrex]

Understand that their Danish parent has put the Uk subsidiary on the market

[Jet A1]

Did the franchise for Maersk Air UK get renewed ? If so, for what timespan ?

If Maersk goes, then is this the start of the demise of BA clones ??

[Flip Flop Flyer]

Should Mr. Moeller decide so, the A. P. Moller Group could easily buy each and every UK carrier, BA included, and you would be hard pressed to even notice it on their balance sheet.

My guess is, as Mr. Moeller is a rather clever fella, that they're not so inclined. Too bad really :p

[forward jumpseat]

The franchise agreement between BA and Maersk Air Ltd was renewed last year for a five year period. However, Maersk Air Denmark have decided to sell Maersk Air Ltd.

[rubber jonny]

Unfortunately with reducing pax loads overall and mytravel lite expanding including competition on maersks routes things dont look hopefull.
Was it true it is a sale or closure for maersk uk.

[mikegreatrex]

Just trying to get my head around the implications for BA Citi Express / BAR as was.

Could this be an opportunity for David Evans and his merry men to consolidate his position at BHX and have everything under one operating company?

Would he want to?

Would BA want to?

[DUNLOPS UP]

Yes, I hear its true, Maersk is up for sale and BA dont want it. BA are loosing enough money with CX and dont want to add to their losses.

CX will be the next to go and BA will concentrate on long haul.

But who would buy Maersk, Ryanair wouldnt want their routes and what are the slots at Brum worth? If a low cost doesnt buy it, then it would have to be a madman to invest in a slowly disappearing business market.

[SECs Machine]

If BA wanted to have any lasting presence in the regions (which they don't) then they would sell BACX and buy Maersk, which is currently the only operator at BHX with the staff, aircraft and servicability levels to provide a decent service. I wouldn't worry about mytravel lite making too big a dent in the business, they serve a different market sector and their loads aren't looking too hot at the minute.

As for the idea of BA focusing on long haul, well that has been dismissed as completely unworkable by Rod Eddington several times over the last year.

[alterego]

Danish Chairman Troels Dilling has said that the airline will be sold as a going concern and not shut down.

My guess is that MD Peter Spencer will lead a management buy out and that we will be doing more work outside the franchise soon.

The cost base has been reduced and will be further reduced in the near future.

This could end up being good news.....lets hope so.

[DUNLOPS UP]

Dear secs, I dont know where you get your ill informed information from, ask any Maersk pilot about the reliability of the CRJ, they have one grounded most of the time, they are pulling off routes because of the unreliability as additional fuel has to be carried because of Canadian design faults, hence cant carry the pax as well as the fuel.

Also, look at BAs figures for long haul v Europe, that will tell you where the money is.

[SECs Machine]

I already did Dunlops. In fact I asked several of them. If you think the CRJ is bad then ask anyone at BHX what they think of the Embraer 145 or the RJ100. Only one aircraft grounded would be a dream come true for the BAR ops guys. As for the long haul vs europe stuff, well there you really need to read between the lines of the accounts, specifically the way revenue is split between short and long haul based on mileage rather than seat price, resulting in an unjustifiably large sum being credited to long haul. Rod Eddington personally stated that the cost of pulling out of short haul would be the loss of 40% of long haul revenue. I know that because I was there when he said it. If all the money was in long haul then BA would have no short haul now. Short haul still exists, ergo the accounts don't show the full picture.

[HZ123]

Some of you guys seem well informed and much of what you say makes sound logic. Not that BA has ever shown much of that, they can usuaully take a profitable outfit and reverse its fortunes As one of you said there is a lot of creative accounting. BHX BA staff do nearly all the GA functions and no doubt are expensive when compared to the dedicated GA's i.e. Globeground, Aviance; In an effort to preserve a presence at LGW I am sure that BA will ditch as many of the regional bases as they can. It is bad news for the staff but in meeting them over the years they are as militant as LHR/LGW people which cannot ensure long careers in BA when your tenure is fragile. It therefore follows that Scottish airports BA staff should watch the BHX experience very carefully. I apologise for the gloom.

[Hand Solo]

It is correct that at BHX it's BA staff that perform all the ground handling functions, but that was always the strength of BHX. I never found any hint of militancy in my time operating out of there, just people working hard to try to keep the base viable and keep their jobs (and consistent profitability suggested they were doing something right). Globeground and Aviance may be cheaper in the short term, but when things start to go wrong there's never been a clearer illustration of the proverb 'penny wise, pound foolish'. With handling agents you're just another customer amongst many and they're really not interested in helping you out. With BA staff you are THE customer. I know there are some pretty lousy BA stations out there (MAN springs to mind, and the check-in staff at EDI are bordering on inept), but I'd choose a good BA station staff over most handling agents any day. My experience suggests the passengers usually would to.

Anyway, whats this got to do with Maersk?:confused:

[clevis pin]

HZ123 & Hands Solo please read the original thread - this is about MAERSK AIR LTD not BA ground handling.

It’s a shame Maersk Denmark pulled the plug before the new MD had any chance to improve things. It was obviously planned a long time ago when they removed the Danish MD and replaced him with an English and much, much better version.

All are hoping for a full recovery with a Management Buy Out.

Hopefully the whole operation will endure this stab in the back from Denmark.........NO MORE DANISH BACON FOR ME !!!

We have excellent staff, the aircraft 97/98% of the time and a low cost base, all we want now is good loads, which are improving and a breathing space to turn things around.




Gravity is a myth – the earth sucks.

[Tcas climb]

Denmark as a country has nothing to do with what Maersk does. All the pigfarmers in the world could do nothing to change this. Not eating danish bacon would be the same as, me not eating english winegums because Lotus stopped making the Elise. (The frame is made in Denmark) :rolleyes:

[Buster the Bear]

Fri 07 Feb 2003

Maersk Air UK for sale?

Maersk Air UK, which operates a BA franchise out of Birmingham International, has been put up for sale by its Danish parent AP Moeller.

The FT reports the news, suggesting that BA must restructure its regional ops as a result of the sale.

Elsewhere it is reported that Maersk operates ‘half the BA network out of BHX to 17 European destinations’. It started operating the BA franchise in 1993 and renewed for five years in Aug01.

The franchise deal with Maersk Air began in 1993 and was renewed for five years in August 2001.
AP Moller has said that Maersk lost €18.9m in 2001.

Buster says:- "Depends upon the price. Ryanair have plenty of cash".

[WEBLUEIT]

Why let Ryan get rid of you all ?

Sadly the final act would be asset stripping if someone like that came in.

[WEBLUEIT]

I really hope you are right about a "Ryan" or some-one else , there are some excellent folks working there in lots of different departments.

Can anyone hazard a guess at any dates to look out for , or is it just a "Wait and see". :rolleyes:

[KEPIT 2 YUSEN]

I think Ryan Air are only interested success stories.

Maersk Air Ltd has been a lame duck for a long time as it was in its' previous guises as Birmingham European and as part of Brymon European and has always been propped up by AP Moller Group.

It would take a very brave investor indeed to try and turn this one around unless it were to focus much more on the leisure market and not try and compete with BAR on the business routes - that "might" be a recipe for disaster.

[boredcounter]

C'mon, do we want to be sold by BA. They have poved themselves inept, not just with VB, but anyone not flying out of LHR. Could they go head to head, NO, not without harming fortress LHR. The loser out of VB going alone, BA Handling @ BHX.
VB will have a cost base to undermine them, a TEAM to take them on, and a big bag of historical data to do it. Sure it may hurt us, but guess what, we have been shafted by Denmark and London for too long, time to go it alone. Think of every route Bad Attitude stopped us starting, if PS gets the funding, off we go, and with all the data we bought into the game plan.

This conversation should have been on the private forum.


Let's (if PS gets the finance) go for it!

Let's leave the 'Bad Attitude' clan, and make it work.

Bored.


Can the VB Boys and Girls keep it on the msk FORUM.


On a t

To the VB guys n girls, you have a private forum. please use it

[HZ123]

It usually BA that is accused of being a lame duck however we did dump Air Liberte and got some lose change for it. Yesterday somebody picked me up that the theme of the thread is Maersk 'not BA and its costs' but some of you have come back to that and that is everything. With so much competition around the Midlands you will be hard pressed to match current costs per avaible seat-kilometre(ASK). If someone out there knows what it is for Maersk I would be interested EZ is 4.5p per ASK and BA between 13 - 15 pence LGW / LHR. Surely anyone buying would have to operate one a/c type. I did some work with Maersk in the past at their BHX offices and always thought it was a well run outfit but so much has changed.

[bmibaby.com]

Has Maersk Air UK got rid of it's Boeing 737s?

Maybe launching an off-shoot like bmi regional and bmibaby (sorry!) with some of the 737s to fly the bucket-and-spade routes might bring some cash in, as well as the BA business franchises.

Just an idea!

[KEPIT 2 YUSEN]

Maersk Air Ltd is an all CRJ Operator.

The 737's went back to Denmark.

[HZ123]

Thanks for confirming that Maersk is a CRJ operator. As stated, that said it is impossible for them to launch a LC operation as the a/c cannot provide an efficient ASK cost. In line with recent topics on BACX and the Eastern Airways scenario it would seem that BA will continue to reduce its placement within the UK regional to Europe market place because they cannot match the LC margins nor the a/c utilisation and quite farnkly there is at present no reason to seeing that changing.

[boredcounter]

The man at the top is still very good indeed. The bulk of the staff are still the same.

Talk of low cost is a bit premature, and as you rightly say, out of the question given the fleet.

We are a Full Service Airline. We have been since year dot. That is where I believe we will stay. Sure we haven't got the best birds for the job,(not aimed at you girls), soon to lose a big bag of backing and facing a long uphill struggle.

We are established, just need funding to establish ourselves in a different identity. Hello LH, AZ, SK and maybe (given their friends at BHX) AF. Given our routes and aircraft type, we could just be in a damn strong position. Given readies that is!

From small acorns.....................


Hope I'm right, I threw my hat in a week ago.

We sell ourself in the UK, to be sold by 'Flagcarriers' at the other end, you know, it just might work.

Thanks to you all for showing an interest,
Bored

[CheekyVisual]

I know quite a few of the guys and girls at Maersk and it is a good little outfit. BUT I just can't see where this finance is going to come from in the current climate. No investment company is going to touch an airline at present especially one that isn't already equipped to follow the low cost model, i.e. no 737s. If you still had them I think it might be a different story. So unless the management can get a new cast iron franchise with another flag carrier AF, LH, etc.. Then I can't see it going anywhere. Even if, as I suspect, Maersk is 100 times more efficient than BA (would be hard not to be !) and run by the best people in the business I can't believe you'll be able to convince the suits in the city Maersk can survive on its own. Even though it probably would do very nicely !

Still I hate to be the profit of doom (comes of working for BA !)hope it does work out for all of you and if you can get your cash i'm sure you'll make it work.

[brabazon]

CheekyVisual

While it would seem illogical for investors to put money into non-"no-frills" airlines at the moment, there never seem to be a shortage of people who will part with their money for a new start-up airline. In Ireland there are at least two new start-ups - JetMagic an out and out business airline who intend to operate ERJ135s and FreshAer a "some frills" airline who intend to operate 757-200s and to take on Ryanair on DUB-STN to boot!! Some one pass the smelling salts as I must be dreaming!!