Virgin Blue announces losses

[Cactusjack]

Problem is more and more bubble heads day by day are put in charge of key front line decisions, they arent worth wiping the dog**** off your shoes on in reality, makes it very frustrating.

Exactly my point VBPCGUY. It won't happen successfully, not even slowly, while the same deadwood exists from the past decade. If they couldn't fix it then they may not be able to fix it now.

So Cactus - if it can be done without revealing your secret identity (sounds like a super here ) how about telling us about your extensive experience in airline management.

The thread is about DJ, not about my work experience.

It seems to me that there are plenty of people here ready in call others nitwits and other colorful names when they themselves have not the slightest idea about managing their own small part of the world let alone managing a department.

If you think that after 10 years of operating they have achieved a sound business model then you need to go to management school Dehavillanddriver.

Think about what you would do differently, and the have a think about maybe why the person in the role cannot do things differently. It isn't a matter of snapping your fingers and making it happen, everyone, even JB, has a boss and everyone is accountable to someone else

No excuses. If you are the CEO or accountable person at the top of the tree then you make things happen, that's why you get the big bucks. If you cant do it you can't bring your senior managers into line then you should pack your bags and leave as you have failed and you are not the right man for the top role.

so unless you can turn each department of the airline into a dictatorship that has the ability to TELL not request them to do something, you are not going to achieve half of what you would like to achieve.

No dictatorships are required. That is 'management 101 old school' old timer. Unfortunately JB has inherited some tripe. He has already made some big moves and cut loose some of the trash and I applaud him for those positive steps, but sadly some of the existing 'hangers on management' are tasked to steer the place forward, and under the direction or influence of those buffoons the job will be a slow and messy one. I think however that Sean and JB will sort that one out in the months ahead (hopefully), both are very smart men.

[Sunstar320]

Would be hard for any carrier in this country to make money at the moment considering Jet fuel has just passed $US140.

It will hit carriers like Jetstar harder because of their limitations of pushing fares up, Tiger also, they only have 10 aircraft in the country so impact wont be as bad obviously.

I get a feeling we will be seeing significant aircraft groundings and alot of reduced capacity if the price continues to soar.

[gobbledock]

Would be hard for any carrier in this country to make money at the moment considering Jet fuel has just passed $US140.

Depends what price the airlines have hedged their fuel at and what percentage of their overall fuel is hedged. Any long lasting fuel price at this level will strip any remaining profits by the literal hour. Virgin are not in any position to wear prices that high for any long term period and as for groundings it would be most likely they would ditch some older aircraft. Qantas are not in really good shape themselves but they too are in the market to ditch some older ****boxes while awaiting new aircraft types on order so it may actually work into their favour, and as for Tiger, well their parent company can handle the price hike well and truly.

[big buddah]

Airlines fight a constant battle with fuel price volatility. Since the industry spends about a third of its operating costs on fuel alone, airlines employ an arsenal of financial instruments like derivatives, options, and caps, to hedge against wild swings in the energy market.

And it’s serious business: in some instances, a company’s hedging book could be the difference between a profit and a loss in a quarter.

So, who’s the best?

According to analysts, it’s Alaska Air Group the predominantly western US carrier that operates Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

The company's CFO Brandon Pedersen told CNBC that its hedging program has “been very, very good for us. We’ve saved roughly $380 million, up through December 31st. And that’s even approaching $400 million through the first couple of months of this first quarter."


This is an impressive figure considering the company’s roughly $2 billion market cap and the fact that its entire hedging team totals only 3 people.

Full article
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[Chinstrap]

I have seen the latest offering on the books. All looks good friends, we have turned a corner.....

[TBM-Legend]

I have seen the latest offering on the books. All looks good friends, we have turned a corner.....


as a public company they'd better keep the whole market "fully" informed for the good and bad....

[Roger Greendeck]

So is it good enough to start recruiting again?