REX to transition to ATRs, start domestic jet ops
Not sure where the doom is coming from, Rex is breaking even this year, a few managed cancellations is not going to affect that much. Flyers don't pay for tickets at the gate so empty airplanes just get cancelled, tickets deferred, money is in the bank, this actually helps operators with low LF as the passengers are then combined onto flights later with more paying passengers for a higher LF. Its not like they are losing $2 billion a year at the moment,or are coming out of insolvency.
Rex are bloody champs!
Yep, passengers love cancellations; it's such a guaranteed method for long term success I am not sure why QF and VA don't do more of it. Plus, you can just not pay leases, staff, crew, insurance and all the other fixed costs, right?
How about we just wish them well. Fellow pilots and cabin crew who have had an atrocious 12 months have finally got some sort of stability back in life. It doesn’t matter what name is on the side of an aircraft if it’s giving fellow aviators a job why do we get so uptight about it ?
Well let’s see if JS lives up to his own hype and gives a no questions ask refund on all request. That was his sale pitch after all. Any flight canceled due covid full refund.
With their current loads, REX would make more money by cancelling the flights rather then operating them.
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Not sure where the doom is coming from, Rex is breaking even this year, a few managed cancellations is not going to affect that much. Flyers don't pay for tickets at the gate so empty airplanes just get cancelled, tickets deferred, money is in the bank, this actually helps operators with low LF as the passengers are then combined onto flights later with more paying passengers for a higher LF. Its not like they are losing $2 billion a year at the moment,or are coming out of insolvency.
Secondly, not sure how it works these days with internet direct bookings etc, but the airline never used to receive the money until the sector had been flown and ticket used. I remember the old paper ticket stubs were treated like cash as they were used to claim the money through IATA or booking agent. Does an unused ticket's cash get held in some form of escrow until the sector is flown? Modern technology and booking engines may have negated this though. A passenger may also cancel their booking, so the airline doesn't get (all) the cash at the end of the day either.
Think your missing the fact the due to a cancellation the aircraft and crew could be in the wrong place, so it could still have to be flown somewhere empty to place where it needs to be to maintain the schedule. So crew time, airport fees, any overnight allowances and fuel are potentially still payable.
I had some travel options booked directly with operators that were cancelled and they gave full refunds. I heard of travelers booked with the same operators who were booked through travel agents who struggled to get even part refunds, only offered deferrals etc. Travel agencies often get commissions directly from the operator, so refunds become murky and funds transfer is obviously handled differently.
Last edited by 43Inches; 28th May 2021 at 00:23.
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However, maybe not be a major factor for Rex due to small B737 network and operation..................seems they'd rather fly the aircraft no matter what the load, even if it is 1 pax travelling SYD-MEL as per Friday's early morning flight. The other pax were no shows more than likely due to the VIC Covid situation. Two SYD-MEL flights cancelled in the afternoon though due to lack of pax, so probably that aircraft/crew was a paired operation.
If it is not a factor having aircraft misplaced, then why did it take VA 24 hours or so to get things back on track post the Sabre failure last week? By their own advice it was because of aircraft out of place along with their crews. I've dealt with plenty of aircraft out of place due to cancellations and support empty ferry flights, so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.
The Sabre failure was a sudden, unexpected fault that prevented departures network wide. Instant chaos, and duty time issues probably run into the equation with restoring operations.
I'd say airlines have major port lock down now as a contingency plan. A single port lock down like Melbourne being knocked out of the system, with forewarning, would be a simple event, where ops would have a plan of action that will avoid what you are saying. Headache for ops for a day or so, no one is going to be stranded etc, a significant weather event would have more effect. A day of operations is a controlled event, so if all planes fly, they wanted that, if they cancelled then that is what they wanted.
From the Australian. Has anyone actually seen this advertisement in the newspaper? If true it's a new low in this war!
Australian domestic airlines are in a huge feuding battle. Rex is fighting for survival and advertising heavily to attract business, but is struggling to sell profitable seats. Dirty advertising tactics have stepped the war to a new level with Qantas angry over Government handouts to Rex resulting in Rex posting a profit.
News article follows "The bitter feud between Qantas and Rex has stepped up a notch after Rex took out full page advertisements highlighting public discontent with the Flying Kangaroo over refunds.
The ad uses dozens of social media posts made about Qantas to emphasise problems with the refund process during the Covid crisis which has resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.
Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said in contrast, they had refunded every passenger who had requested their money back for an eligible fare bought before April 1,2021.
The ad suggested Qantas could owe as much $1bn to passengers caught up in Covid-related flight cancellations.
Throughout the pandemic, Qantas has strived to manage a huge number of travellers disrupted by border closures and lockdowns, by offering refunds, rebookings or travel credits.
On its website, Qantas points out that refunds could take up to eight weeks to process, and may be conditional on the sort of fare purchased.
The advertisements are expected to stir up more animosity between the carriers, which have clashed over regional routes and government grants.
Rex has previously accused Qantas of deliberately adding capacity to regional routes in an effort to squeeze out the smaller carrier as “payback” for Rex’s decision to compete on capital city routes.
Since the start of the pandemic Qantas has added more than 40 new routes, including several that were operated solely by Rex.
In response Rex threatened to pull off a number of routes, many of which were not the subject of competition from Qantas.
To date Rex has not come good on its threats.
Government grants given to Qantas and Rex throughout the pandemic have also been fodder for the fight.
Qantas claimed the considerable financial assistance given to Rex was disproportionate to the airline’s size.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said if Qantas had received the same level of assistance as Rex, they would have got over $7 billion.
Mr Joyce’s suggestion that there was only room for two airline groups on major domestic routes in Australia also inflamed Rex management.
The fight then took a bizarre turn when Mr Sharp accused Qantas and Virgin Australia of colluding to try to sink Rex.
In their recent half year results, Qantas posted a $1.09 billion statutory loss, compared to Rex’s $9.9 million profit for the six months to December 2020.
As well as Sydney-Melbourne, Rex has added Melbourne-Gold Coast and Sydney-Canberra to its network using former Virgin Australia 737s.
Qantas has been contacted for comment on the advertisements.
Australian domestic airlines are in a huge feuding battle. Rex is fighting for survival and advertising heavily to attract business, but is struggling to sell profitable seats. Dirty advertising tactics have stepped the war to a new level with Qantas angry over Government handouts to Rex resulting in Rex posting a profit.
News article follows "The bitter feud between Qantas and Rex has stepped up a notch after Rex took out full page advertisements highlighting public discontent with the Flying Kangaroo over refunds.
The ad uses dozens of social media posts made about Qantas to emphasise problems with the refund process during the Covid crisis which has resulted in thousands of flight cancellations.
Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said in contrast, they had refunded every passenger who had requested their money back for an eligible fare bought before April 1,2021.
The ad suggested Qantas could owe as much $1bn to passengers caught up in Covid-related flight cancellations.
Throughout the pandemic, Qantas has strived to manage a huge number of travellers disrupted by border closures and lockdowns, by offering refunds, rebookings or travel credits.
On its website, Qantas points out that refunds could take up to eight weeks to process, and may be conditional on the sort of fare purchased.
The advertisements are expected to stir up more animosity between the carriers, which have clashed over regional routes and government grants.
Rex has previously accused Qantas of deliberately adding capacity to regional routes in an effort to squeeze out the smaller carrier as “payback” for Rex’s decision to compete on capital city routes.
Since the start of the pandemic Qantas has added more than 40 new routes, including several that were operated solely by Rex.
In response Rex threatened to pull off a number of routes, many of which were not the subject of competition from Qantas.
To date Rex has not come good on its threats.
Government grants given to Qantas and Rex throughout the pandemic have also been fodder for the fight.
Qantas claimed the considerable financial assistance given to Rex was disproportionate to the airline’s size.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said if Qantas had received the same level of assistance as Rex, they would have got over $7 billion.
Mr Joyce’s suggestion that there was only room for two airline groups on major domestic routes in Australia also inflamed Rex management.
The fight then took a bizarre turn when Mr Sharp accused Qantas and Virgin Australia of colluding to try to sink Rex.
In their recent half year results, Qantas posted a $1.09 billion statutory loss, compared to Rex’s $9.9 million profit for the six months to December 2020.
As well as Sydney-Melbourne, Rex has added Melbourne-Gold Coast and Sydney-Canberra to its network using former Virgin Australia 737s.
Qantas has been contacted for comment on the advertisements.
Here’s an idea Rex. Worry about your own backyard.
The public don’t give two ****s about any of this. Every time it’s competition make a business decision in regards to its operation, are we going to hear Rex’s opinion every single time?
The public don’t give two ****s about any of this. Every time it’s competition make a business decision in regards to its operation, are we going to hear Rex’s opinion every single time?
If I was the government, the day they announced it I would have said "Hand the money back".
The unbridled arrogance and scatter-gun rubbish that comes out of their Chairperson's mouth is become old very fast
You know, an airfare war with advertised competing prices is just part of the game but selectively drawing on adverse social media posts and putting them in print is anticompetitive and an attempt to damage a brand IMHO. I think JS may have overstepped again and will most likely find himself in a legal battle again.
It seems JS’s strategy to build brand awareness is by trying to trash the reputation of the incumbents. It’s the easiest way he can get/buy media coverage. JS seems a relic of bygone times who has somehow avoided extinction.
This is what happens when you get the work experience kid trying to run the marketing department.
Rex have missed the point entirely and just don’t get that by personally attacking your competitors you’ll get little sympathy.
Sure, there may be some convoluted strategy to drum up brand awareness by constantly attacking the opposition, but it’s not going to bode well for them in the long run.
Trying to digest that wall of text made my head hurt, the target audience Rex are trying for aren’t going to be captured by that (and what’s funny is that under the link to this advertisement on their own Facebook site, Rex customers themselves are querying where their refunds are and why they’re on hold for hours waiting for a response. Although it seems they are deleting a lot of those comments as they appear!)
And for everyone else it doesn’t take much digging to realise that Rex themselves are not only a foreign owned company but have a history of bullying and intimidating their staff and regional Australian communities along with a breathless arrogance over how great they think they are by making money off monopoly routes to piss pot towns and then spitting the dummy when they get competition.
Not to mention the massive and skewed government handouts they manipulated to kick start an expansion into jets.
This whole thing reeks of desperation by a rudderless and sinking ship. No doubt accelerated by the latest lockdown in Melbourne and the realisation that travel will be constrained for a long time yet, whoever thought it a good idea launching a new airline in the midst of the worst aviation crisis in history must be regretting the decision.
Rex have missed the point entirely and just don’t get that by personally attacking your competitors you’ll get little sympathy.
Sure, there may be some convoluted strategy to drum up brand awareness by constantly attacking the opposition, but it’s not going to bode well for them in the long run.
Trying to digest that wall of text made my head hurt, the target audience Rex are trying for aren’t going to be captured by that (and what’s funny is that under the link to this advertisement on their own Facebook site, Rex customers themselves are querying where their refunds are and why they’re on hold for hours waiting for a response. Although it seems they are deleting a lot of those comments as they appear!)
And for everyone else it doesn’t take much digging to realise that Rex themselves are not only a foreign owned company but have a history of bullying and intimidating their staff and regional Australian communities along with a breathless arrogance over how great they think they are by making money off monopoly routes to piss pot towns and then spitting the dummy when they get competition.
Not to mention the massive and skewed government handouts they manipulated to kick start an expansion into jets.
This whole thing reeks of desperation by a rudderless and sinking ship. No doubt accelerated by the latest lockdown in Melbourne and the realisation that travel will be constrained for a long time yet, whoever thought it a good idea launching a new airline in the midst of the worst aviation crisis in history must be regretting the decision.
whoever thought it a good idea launching a new airline in the midst of the worst aviation crisis in history must be regretting the decision.