Skywest update
Thread Starter
Skywest update
For immediate release
17 MAY 2007
ADVENT AIR LIMITED
("Advent Air" or the "Company")
COMPANY UPDATE
FLEET DEVELOPMENT
Skywest has previously announced that it recently purchased outright two
additional F-50 turbo-prop aircraft bringing the number of F-50s operated by the
Group to seven. Skywest is actively seeking one or two additional F-50 aircraft
in the market, for outright purchase.
Skywest's management plans to lease a further three 100 seat jet aircraft in the
period to March 2008. This is subject to aircraft availability, a factor which
remains an issue for the airline, as worldwide demand for this type of aircraft
is currently high. If successful in securing the aircraft, this would bring the
number of F-100 aircraft operated by the group to six. These additional aircraft
may be leased from Avation PLC (a related corporation) or another aircraft
leasing company.
The Airbus A320 project in conjunction with XL Airways remains an important
medium term growth opportunity for the Group.
GROWTH PERFORMANCE
The Company continues to grow its airline business in both the traditional
regular passenger transport scheduled airline activity along with the resource
charter business. Skywest is in a unique position, in that it can combine RPT
and scheduled charter on the same flight, thus servicing the public and resource
clients to maximum capacity whilst fully utilising a single aircraft. This
represents a valuable proposition for the larger resource sector clients of
Skywest who are required to support local communities in consideration for their
right to mine certain resources.
The following comparisons are unaudited, are for the 9 months to the end of
March 2007 and are extracted from the management accounts of Skywest.
Comparisons are made to the 9 months to the end of March 2006.
• Skywest Net Profit increased 475%
• Total Revenues increased 33% with Scheduled Charter Revenue
increasing 62% and RPT Revenue has increasing 25%
• The Average Fare (RPT) increased 15%
• Passenger Numbers (RPT) increased 8.7%
FURTHER GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR RPT BUSINESS
The operational management of Skywest believes that the following are potential
additional opportunities for further growth:
1. Additional capacity is planned to several existing destinations:
• Geraldton (currently 34 services per week)
• Exmouth (through continued growth of the offshore drilling by
Woodside, Apache and BHP Billiton)
• Newman (through expansion of the mining operations in this area)
• Kalgoorlie
• Albany (based on existing growth rates, this route will demand
additional frequency in the 3rd Quarter of 2007)
• Darwin.
2. New destinations under consideration:
• Karratha
• Port Hedland (earmarked to commence by July 2007).
• Kalgoorlie - Melbourne
• Broome - Singapore
Skywest continues to grow its ancillary revenue lines of business and those
associated with on-line website sales. Website sales of airline tickets have
increased by 46% on the prior year as at May 2007. On-line website sales of
tickets now comprise 32% of all ticket sales.
GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCHEDULED CHARTER
The Company understands that with over AUD$80 billion in major resources
projects underway or planned, Western Australia is leading Australia in economic
growth. Importantly for Skywest, nearly all of these projects are totally
dependant on air transport from Perth to their mining sites in typically remote
and largely inaccessible regions. Since Skywest is a strong Western Australia
brand with over 43 years of experience in the state, its brand strength provides
strong leverage over competitors when marketing services to these resource
sector clients.
The Company's strategy includes the aggressive pursuit of long-term scheduled
resource charter contracts as and when they become on offer from resource sector
clients in the regions served by the airline. This strategy has already resulted
in an increase of 62% in scheduled charter revenues (unaudited) in the 9 month
period to March 2007, compared with a similar period in 2006.
CHALLENGES AND RISKS
Congestion at Perth Domestic Airport due to increased passenger and aircraft
movements and other factors has caused a lowering of Skywest's on time
performance ("OTP") compared with last year. Notwithstanding that airport
congestion may be outside the control of the management, improving the OTP is a
challenge faced by the Company.
The availability of additional aircraft and moreover trained crews to fly those
aircraft may limit the growth performance for the airline and the scheduling of
additional flights. The time taken to train and secure the services of flight
crew is an issue faced by management as the business continues to expand its
scale.
--ENDS--
17 MAY 2007
ADVENT AIR LIMITED
("Advent Air" or the "Company")
COMPANY UPDATE
FLEET DEVELOPMENT
Skywest has previously announced that it recently purchased outright two
additional F-50 turbo-prop aircraft bringing the number of F-50s operated by the
Group to seven. Skywest is actively seeking one or two additional F-50 aircraft
in the market, for outright purchase.
Skywest's management plans to lease a further three 100 seat jet aircraft in the
period to March 2008. This is subject to aircraft availability, a factor which
remains an issue for the airline, as worldwide demand for this type of aircraft
is currently high. If successful in securing the aircraft, this would bring the
number of F-100 aircraft operated by the group to six. These additional aircraft
may be leased from Avation PLC (a related corporation) or another aircraft
leasing company.
The Airbus A320 project in conjunction with XL Airways remains an important
medium term growth opportunity for the Group.
GROWTH PERFORMANCE
The Company continues to grow its airline business in both the traditional
regular passenger transport scheduled airline activity along with the resource
charter business. Skywest is in a unique position, in that it can combine RPT
and scheduled charter on the same flight, thus servicing the public and resource
clients to maximum capacity whilst fully utilising a single aircraft. This
represents a valuable proposition for the larger resource sector clients of
Skywest who are required to support local communities in consideration for their
right to mine certain resources.
The following comparisons are unaudited, are for the 9 months to the end of
March 2007 and are extracted from the management accounts of Skywest.
Comparisons are made to the 9 months to the end of March 2006.
• Skywest Net Profit increased 475%
• Total Revenues increased 33% with Scheduled Charter Revenue
increasing 62% and RPT Revenue has increasing 25%
• The Average Fare (RPT) increased 15%
• Passenger Numbers (RPT) increased 8.7%
FURTHER GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR RPT BUSINESS
The operational management of Skywest believes that the following are potential
additional opportunities for further growth:
1. Additional capacity is planned to several existing destinations:
• Geraldton (currently 34 services per week)
• Exmouth (through continued growth of the offshore drilling by
Woodside, Apache and BHP Billiton)
• Newman (through expansion of the mining operations in this area)
• Kalgoorlie
• Albany (based on existing growth rates, this route will demand
additional frequency in the 3rd Quarter of 2007)
• Darwin.
2. New destinations under consideration:
• Karratha
• Port Hedland (earmarked to commence by July 2007).
• Kalgoorlie - Melbourne
• Broome - Singapore
Skywest continues to grow its ancillary revenue lines of business and those
associated with on-line website sales. Website sales of airline tickets have
increased by 46% on the prior year as at May 2007. On-line website sales of
tickets now comprise 32% of all ticket sales.
GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FOR SCHEDULED CHARTER
The Company understands that with over AUD$80 billion in major resources
projects underway or planned, Western Australia is leading Australia in economic
growth. Importantly for Skywest, nearly all of these projects are totally
dependant on air transport from Perth to their mining sites in typically remote
and largely inaccessible regions. Since Skywest is a strong Western Australia
brand with over 43 years of experience in the state, its brand strength provides
strong leverage over competitors when marketing services to these resource
sector clients.
The Company's strategy includes the aggressive pursuit of long-term scheduled
resource charter contracts as and when they become on offer from resource sector
clients in the regions served by the airline. This strategy has already resulted
in an increase of 62% in scheduled charter revenues (unaudited) in the 9 month
period to March 2007, compared with a similar period in 2006.
CHALLENGES AND RISKS
Congestion at Perth Domestic Airport due to increased passenger and aircraft
movements and other factors has caused a lowering of Skywest's on time
performance ("OTP") compared with last year. Notwithstanding that airport
congestion may be outside the control of the management, improving the OTP is a
challenge faced by the Company.
The availability of additional aircraft and moreover trained crews to fly those
aircraft may limit the growth performance for the airline and the scheduling of
additional flights. The time taken to train and secure the services of flight
crew is an issue faced by management as the business continues to expand its
scale.
--ENDS--
What sort of press release is that! We're expanding but can't get any areoplanes or crew to fly them so we might not 
Skywest has been so called expanding for 5 years and not much has changed over there in the last 5 years, which is a bit sad given the unprecedented growth rate of everything else.
Alliance is growing faster now with new bases in Perth and Adelaide, Skywest must be getting a tad nervous. Interesting times ahead it seems.
Skywest has been so called expanding for 5 years and not much has changed over there in the last 5 years, which is a bit sad given the unprecedented growth rate of everything else.
Alliance is growing faster now with new bases in Perth and Adelaide, Skywest must be getting a tad nervous. Interesting times ahead it seems.
Xr History
In 2001 Xr had accumulated over $25 million in profits before the Ansett collapse and Air New Zealand then withdrew that capital just before the Ansett collapse.this money had been carefully put aside and was their to upgrade the fleet and invest in the airline.
Xr had only 5 f50 aircraft and around 50 odd pilots those days.
Xr now have 7 f50 aircraft (owned outright) and three f100 aircraft and pilot numbers will be close to 100 by years end.
so Xr came back from the brink with no capital from 2001 because of the Ansett "woes".
Xeptu you have "no idea" of what it takes to turn a company around and bring it back from a "financial abyss".
now i would like to see what's on your "resume" and what you have personally achieved in these last five year's.
cheers
dijon moutard
Xr had only 5 f50 aircraft and around 50 odd pilots those days.
Xr now have 7 f50 aircraft (owned outright) and three f100 aircraft and pilot numbers will be close to 100 by years end.
so Xr came back from the brink with no capital from 2001 because of the Ansett "woes".
Xeptu you have "no idea" of what it takes to turn a company around and bring it back from a "financial abyss".
now i would like to see what's on your "resume" and what you have personally achieved in these last five year's.
cheers
dijon moutard
Oh!!!! Pleeeese, that was all more than 5 years ago, I'm merely responding to this published press release, you have to admit it says a whole lot of nothing.
Intrigued about the new routes though,
Kalgoorlie - Melbourne
Broome - Singapore
They should be an overwhelming success don't you think
How come you havn't looked at the obvious routes like, Perth - Yulara - Cairns. NJS has that one all to themselves and just like back in the Ansett days you can't get a seat at short notice on that flight for love or money. Thought that would have been a more sensible route.
By the way, where's those A320's November 2006 wasn't it.
Intrigued about the new routes though,
Kalgoorlie - Melbourne
Broome - Singapore
They should be an overwhelming success don't you think
How come you havn't looked at the obvious routes like, Perth - Yulara - Cairns. NJS has that one all to themselves and just like back in the Ansett days you can't get a seat at short notice on that flight for love or money. Thought that would have been a more sensible route.
By the way, where's those A320's November 2006 wasn't it.
Xeptu
Xeptu oh dear get a life ; it is amazing what floats to the top.again what's your resume : not much to answer there is there !!!
oh by the way glad your not in control of Xr ; i'll stand by XR record any day !!!
by the way who do you work for ; how's your conditions of work !!!
got an eba or do you work under an AWA !!!!
plainly you have too much time on your hands !!!!
the press release was detailed to the london stock exchage as part of the requirements of a public listing their ; simple end of story.
cheers
dijon moutard
Well obviously you work for Skywest, that would explain your passionate response, I'm not interested in making this personal, I'm merely responding to the original post as you should be.
So lets stay with the facts with maybe a little speculation is fine.
1. Skywest has not done anything "new" of any significance in the last 5 years.
2. Alliance is expanding at 3 times the rate of Skywest over the same period and operates the same equipment in several bases, including Perth.
3. QF excerised it's options on a further 10 Q-400's due for delivery in the 2008/9 financial year, surprise surprise at around the same time skywest's route protection expires. Incidentally, just 10 days after Skywest announced on the ASX it's had aquired a deal for 4 A320's due for deployment in Perth November 2006. ( maybe you could shed some light on whats happening there)
4. We know and the State Government has made it no secret, that Western Australia plans to be an open skies policy beyond 2009.
5. It is not inconceivable that QF may deploy those aircraft over skywests regional routes, complete with QF frequent flyer points. I would think if I were a gambling man that QF might win that battle. Given the current crew shortages, that might appear to be a better option for existing skywest crew also.
6. Yes! I have seen the Skywest Pilots Agreement, as it appears on the AIRC website, a very good and comprehensive agreement, well done and a credit to those who wrote it.
X
So lets stay with the facts with maybe a little speculation is fine.
1. Skywest has not done anything "new" of any significance in the last 5 years.
2. Alliance is expanding at 3 times the rate of Skywest over the same period and operates the same equipment in several bases, including Perth.
3. QF excerised it's options on a further 10 Q-400's due for delivery in the 2008/9 financial year, surprise surprise at around the same time skywest's route protection expires. Incidentally, just 10 days after Skywest announced on the ASX it's had aquired a deal for 4 A320's due for deployment in Perth November 2006. ( maybe you could shed some light on whats happening there)
4. We know and the State Government has made it no secret, that Western Australia plans to be an open skies policy beyond 2009.
5. It is not inconceivable that QF may deploy those aircraft over skywests regional routes, complete with QF frequent flyer points. I would think if I were a gambling man that QF might win that battle. Given the current crew shortages, that might appear to be a better option for existing skywest crew also.
6. Yes! I have seen the Skywest Pilots Agreement, as it appears on the AIRC website, a very good and comprehensive agreement, well done and a credit to those who wrote it.
X
QF excerised it's options on a further 10 Q-400's due for delivery in the 2008/9 financial year,
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Although both XR & QL are short on crew, I would be siding with the former to be the one standing. With QL now having to advertise twice in the Australian and with the new low minimum requirements, they are in no position to expand west.
Having said that, I heard that out of 20-30 people called for XR interviews recently, only 3-5 said yes.
I would suggest to Skywest to get with the times regarding the NASA recruiting process and attract some good long term crews with a simple interview. If it were to improve on its already good (relative to its neighbours) T & Cs then I think they could be the benchmark. No endo fee, bond, AWA and good morale are great, but not enough anymore. If they introduce a smoother, more relevant recruiting process and sweeten the pot a bit, well – the sky is the limit.
I don’t think QL would be a better option for XR crew by any stretch of the imagination. Personally I think it will be the QF group that will struggle in the future.
It’s a good time to be a pilot and it is important to support the good airlines like XR. They will be the ones that retain crew and survive.
Ps I don’t work for either mob.
Having said that, I heard that out of 20-30 people called for XR interviews recently, only 3-5 said yes.
I would suggest to Skywest to get with the times regarding the NASA recruiting process and attract some good long term crews with a simple interview. If it were to improve on its already good (relative to its neighbours) T & Cs then I think they could be the benchmark. No endo fee, bond, AWA and good morale are great, but not enough anymore. If they introduce a smoother, more relevant recruiting process and sweeten the pot a bit, well – the sky is the limit.
I don’t think QL would be a better option for XR crew by any stretch of the imagination. Personally I think it will be the QF group that will struggle in the future.
It’s a good time to be a pilot and it is important to support the good airlines like XR. They will be the ones that retain crew and survive.
Ps I don’t work for either mob.
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how's the 320 coming along dij 
I have some FCOMs for hire if you like 
Xeptu, you should know better than to question the great Mustarde, I did once and have'nt been the same since
...and I'm bitter and twisted
I have some FCOMs for hire if you like Xeptu, you should know better than to question the great Mustarde, I did once and have'nt been the same since
...and I'm bitter and twisted
Oh! Well clearly he's not the sharpest knife in the draw, he had me going there for a bit, initially I thought he was a pilot and worked for Skywest, obviously not the case.
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Its a valid question re the A320's. The below was released in August 2006. As a listed company Xr is public, and has made a deal with another public company, Avion Group. That means shareholders are expecting returns from this deal. As it hasn't happened by the touted date of Nov 06, does this mean there are some cranky shareholders out there, - both XR and Avion? Or have they backed out on the deal. I'm no expert, but failure to disclose this kind of information to the shareholding public should not be taken lightly.
PS anyone shed anylight on who Advent Air is ??
"PERTH-BASED regional carrier Skywest has announced a deal in which four A320 aircraft will be added to its fleet “to establish various new services”.
UK-listed Advent Air, which is Skywest’s major shareholder, said the planes will come from an Iceland-based firm called Avion Group which currently owns Star Airlines in France and Germanbased Star Europe.
The company said it intends to add the A320s to Skywest’s current high-capacity Air Operators Certificate, with even more aircraft to be added to cope with seasonal demand if required.
The deal also includes provision of a marketing budget for the establishment of new routes and there’s a profit sharing deal which will see each party paying its own costs, and Skywest not exposed to any capital investment.
Advent’s Jeff Chatfield said the move would also allow some of the carrier’s existing aircraft to be used to service charters for the “buoyant resources sector environment”.
PS anyone shed anylight on who Advent Air is ??
"PERTH-BASED regional carrier Skywest has announced a deal in which four A320 aircraft will be added to its fleet “to establish various new services”.
UK-listed Advent Air, which is Skywest’s major shareholder, said the planes will come from an Iceland-based firm called Avion Group which currently owns Star Airlines in France and Germanbased Star Europe.
The company said it intends to add the A320s to Skywest’s current high-capacity Air Operators Certificate, with even more aircraft to be added to cope with seasonal demand if required.
The deal also includes provision of a marketing budget for the establishment of new routes and there’s a profit sharing deal which will see each party paying its own costs, and Skywest not exposed to any capital investment.
Advent’s Jeff Chatfield said the move would also allow some of the carrier’s existing aircraft to be used to service charters for the “buoyant resources sector environment”.
Interesting they are looking at bringing back Karratha, they done well out of here but witht the constant delays and tech problems they gained a bad rep.
Bring back some competition on KTA-PER!
Bring back some competition on KTA-PER!
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I've travelled a fair bit to various places around WA on Skywest and one thing they do extremely well is delay flights. I don't think I have ever left Perth at the time specified....and another thing whilst I'm slagging them off..is it too much to ask to have the aircraft cleaned?
The hosties are hot though...
The hosties are hot though...
hell yeah! we might as well slag off while we're here, I had a terrible experience on one flight, it must have been 50 degrees inside and took an hour before it finally cooled down. I was sitting next to the engine and oil was pouring out all over the thing and dripping off at the back, I asked the hostie, which I might add was not overly attractive, in fact I distinctly remember thinking, christ must be hard to get flighties these days, anyway she said it was quite normal. Then I went to the toilet and well it was a bit on the nose to start with till I flushed the thing and ended up with blue sh*t all over my new white sneekers, I said to her I suppose thats normal too.
Nope I can't say there was anything there that overly impressed me. I think they were on time though.
Nope I can't say there was anything there that overly impressed me. I think they were on time though.
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is it too much to ask to have the aircraft cleaned?
For some reason it doesn't seem to happen so much to DJ.. hmmm....
As for delays.. come stand on the taxiway at 0600 any weekday, everyone is delayed that time of day!!
Cheers,
Braz
Thread Starter
For some reason it doesn't seem to happen so much to DJ.. hmmm....
Well whats changed then, sure they have added another two F50's, so what, otherwise it's appears to be the same as it was 5 years ago, if something major has or is happening "what" do tell.
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Here are some facts that i know of....
The two additional F50's are to replace the two recently bought F50's. FNE and FNF are heaps of junk. No hot galley and can not be installed. These two are that bad that several towns, GEL, ABA and ESP, have requested XR not fly those aircraft to their ports. They are even stupid enough to sent one of these to the Granites, at 4.5hour flight. Long time to go without a hot meal.
Additional F-100's, yeah right. They cant even keep 3 of the in the air. The XR board some time ago decided NOT to have a stock pile of spares. So they sold them all. Big mistake. They are more than happy to have an aircraft AOG in KNX or some other place for 3 days, than to have spares.
And CASA told XR that their hangar was not big enough to justify 7 F50's on a RPT AOC. So one of them is charter only. Not that XR take much notice of CASA.
So...XR expanding? Maybe not. They cant even operate an airline with the equipment they have got.
The two additional F50's are to replace the two recently bought F50's. FNE and FNF are heaps of junk. No hot galley and can not be installed. These two are that bad that several towns, GEL, ABA and ESP, have requested XR not fly those aircraft to their ports. They are even stupid enough to sent one of these to the Granites, at 4.5hour flight. Long time to go without a hot meal.
Additional F-100's, yeah right. They cant even keep 3 of the in the air. The XR board some time ago decided NOT to have a stock pile of spares. So they sold them all. Big mistake. They are more than happy to have an aircraft AOG in KNX or some other place for 3 days, than to have spares.
And CASA told XR that their hangar was not big enough to justify 7 F50's on a RPT AOC. So one of them is charter only. Not that XR take much notice of CASA.
So...XR expanding? Maybe not. They cant even operate an airline with the equipment they have got.
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As for delays.. come stand on the taxiway at 0600 any weekday, everyone is delayed that time of day!!
I'm not talking about traffic delays. I went through a period where I travelled for work on the F100 once a week supposedly departing a 0600. I couldn't help but notice the Virgin flight parked next bay up was also scheduled to be pushed back at 0600 (which it consistantly did) and we always consistantly pushed back a good 10 minutes after it.....