Virgin Australia faces financial crush.
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Let me make a couple of suggestions;
-paint all your aircraft cheerful red
-aim at the leisure market and low cost traveling public
-dress your staff in casual uniforms to create a point of difference (suggestions would be leather jackets, no ties, light brown trousers and boots)
-get your staff to make jokes with the passengers to make the airline feel upbeat and fun
-paint all your aircraft cheerful red
-aim at the leisure market and low cost traveling public
-dress your staff in casual uniforms to create a point of difference (suggestions would be leather jackets, no ties, light brown trousers and boots)
-get your staff to make jokes with the passengers to make the airline feel upbeat and fun
Sad really!!
Things don't look too bright for VA although having said that it won't disappear because I reckon there are several Asian Carriers who will gladly come and take them over or join them.
I guess it's a bit like Rugby- The Aussies will never beat the All Blacks
and in the Airline Game - VA will never beat or be able to compete with QF.
So in both cases they may as well enjoy playing the game albeit as the loser every time.
The Kiwis have had years of practice at chasing sheep so can run faster and QF have had years of being protected by the Govt. so how can anyone beat them !!!
Its just not possible unfortunately!!!!!!
I guess it's a bit like Rugby- The Aussies will never beat the All Blacks
and in the Airline Game - VA will never beat or be able to compete with QF.
So in both cases they may as well enjoy playing the game albeit as the loser every time.
The Kiwis have had years of practice at chasing sheep so can run faster and QF have had years of being protected by the Govt. so how can anyone beat them !!!
Its just not possible unfortunately!!!!!!
As an aviation outsider and without considering any underlying management issues I've wondered at times whether VA even has the right name to take it up to Qantas. I realise that the Virgin group put money in to get it going and I think they still have a minor shareholding but it obviously costs dough to use the Virgin moniker. Branson is far from everyone's cup of tea and perhaps the money might be better spent contributing to the cost of a re-brand. The ideal time probably would have been when they repainted the aircraft and went international but of course that horse has long bolted.
Recent research polling shows there is still some stigma attached to flying with VA by business people especially Monday to Friday. This has a huge impact on the yield and the financial returns.
This has been put down to the early antics of Virgin Blue with face painting, singing etc etc. Pilots that dressed like Scout Masters. Then we had the Blue Room. I think it is now called the Lounge. The list goes on and on. Not everyone is a fan of Richard Branson and his antics. Qantas still appear to be resting on the laurels of years gone by.
A similar situation in the USA. Virgin America is/was regarded as a great airline to fly with. Great service on the ground and in the air but they do not attract the non Disneyland crowd. I have just checked the Expedia cost for SFO to JFK on 24 Nov and a return on 1 Dec.
Virgin America are AUD369
American are AUD618
United are UAD464
Whilst Virgin America have lower costs than the legacy carriers they need a better financial performance, especially if the takeover by Alaska Airlines does not proceed.
This has been put down to the early antics of Virgin Blue with face painting, singing etc etc. Pilots that dressed like Scout Masters. Then we had the Blue Room. I think it is now called the Lounge. The list goes on and on. Not everyone is a fan of Richard Branson and his antics. Qantas still appear to be resting on the laurels of years gone by.
A similar situation in the USA. Virgin America is/was regarded as a great airline to fly with. Great service on the ground and in the air but they do not attract the non Disneyland crowd. I have just checked the Expedia cost for SFO to JFK on 24 Nov and a return on 1 Dec.
Virgin America are AUD369
American are AUD618
United are UAD464
Whilst Virgin America have lower costs than the legacy carriers they need a better financial performance, especially if the takeover by Alaska Airlines does not proceed.
JB has created what I think is a poor imitation of Qantas with little product differentiation. Not only that, the market in thus country is too small for two full-service carriers that are both profitable. The cost of repositioning Virgin must have been crippling. Add that to the myriad of introduced types and trouble is invited. Simplicity will return profits, but it's too late.
Join Date: Mar 2007
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The reason for QFs success with multiple airlines is they are all independent companies managing their own affairs. Whilst you could argue the duplicated management structures cost, it's no different to a country. Imagine if there was no state governments? The votes would be in the population centres, the rest would wither and die.
I personally think the current strategy is flawed and whilst a group seniority list is a great thing for incumbents, it royally sucks for the new hires with plenty of experience looking at the right seat if an ATR for a spell when they're probably already captains elsewhere.
I personally think the current strategy is flawed and whilst a group seniority list is a great thing for incumbents, it royally sucks for the new hires with plenty of experience looking at the right seat if an ATR for a spell when they're probably already captains elsewhere.
It is no co-incidence that JB didn't get the CEO gig at QF. He's taken all his theories that were a problem at QF and introduced them at Virgin. Look at the cumulative results.
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What most of you are ignoring was that when VA was started it was a low cost airline. Now even before Brett Godfrey left they were in the process of changing into a full service airline and John Borghetti has continued the transformation. That does not come cheap.
If you care to look at the more reputable of financial reports, you will see that much of the quarters loss was due to costs of the restructure. You may care to note that even QF has taken a hit in the last quarter with a reduction in revenue.
VA may well be walking a financial tightrope but it is one that it had to take as there was no future where they were. The battle for them is to complete the change before the inevitable downswing in the economy.
If you care to look at the more reputable of financial reports, you will see that much of the quarters loss was due to costs of the restructure. You may care to note that even QF has taken a hit in the last quarter with a reduction in revenue.
VA may well be walking a financial tightrope but it is one that it had to take as there was no future where they were. The battle for them is to complete the change before the inevitable downswing in the economy.
Malicious
One thing is to get on a forum like pprune and have a bleat. To spend, what must have been a considerable amount of time, formulating a report with a combination of truths and falsehoods, is not only malicious to the company but to the hard working men and women that built the place. As if the staff and their families needed the extra stress, distraction and sleepless nights they aren't already having with the changes afoot!
I have to wonder sometimes, if some enjoy seeing colleagues under this type of stress or even worse out of a job. I can't say I've ever wanted to see an opponent hurt or out of a job, maybe it's just me. If anything, I say "good on them, we should lift our game.".
I'm hopeful that things are turning the corner. Amongst a sea of negative here are some positive points:
The latest fuel hedging should pay off some debt, let's hope the price of fuel stays low.
Fleet rationalisation (as painful as it is for many) is under way.
Increased utilisation of the 330 is on the horizon.
Repositioning of widebodies on profitable routes with the help of the owners.
HNA and Nanashan buying in.
I think and hope things are improving time will tell.
I have to wonder sometimes, if some enjoy seeing colleagues under this type of stress or even worse out of a job. I can't say I've ever wanted to see an opponent hurt or out of a job, maybe it's just me. If anything, I say "good on them, we should lift our game.".
I'm hopeful that things are turning the corner. Amongst a sea of negative here are some positive points:
The latest fuel hedging should pay off some debt, let's hope the price of fuel stays low.
Fleet rationalisation (as painful as it is for many) is under way.
Increased utilisation of the 330 is on the horizon.
Repositioning of widebodies on profitable routes with the help of the owners.
HNA and Nanashan buying in.
I think and hope things are improving time will tell.
Join Date: Jul 2014
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Naming an airline after a person who hasn't had sex always was a bizarre concept.
All jokes aside, a GP at my practice also lectures General practice. One of the GP final exams has a scenario of a flight attendant returning from overseas with a laundry list of symptoms. Over 30% of candidates go straight for an STD, when the correct answer is actually malaria. But I digress...