To put you out of your misery...

The ATR is operated by Skywest using the Skywest AOC.

There are no doubt some smart cookies driving Virgin.

If I was the CEO of Virgin, I would order the HR department to recruit every single applicant that is presently working for Qantas, Easterns, Sunstate, Network and Jetstar.

That would be an amazingly simple strategy to neuter the competition.

I did a search under "Virgin ATR" and it came back with 41 replies and around half of the replies mention Skywest and it took less than a minute to see who operates them.

Did your search identify names of the flight operations people directly
Involved?

Perhaps you could contact Skywest directly and ask them the same question. Failing that, CASA may have it on record.

Now, can we please get back on the topic?

A330 #5 entered service today MEL-PER. VH-XFE.

When do the 12 A330's that were destined for Kingfisher arrive?

My question is - When will Virgin with it's shiny ATR's go after some of the Queensland Rio Tinto contracts and pluck them out of the hands of that 'other mob in FNQ' who are servicing Rio with 28 year old Dash 8's?
I heard yesterday that the FNQ mob's chief pilot was investigated by CASA over an issue last year and then stood aside from that position a few months ago. And supposedly Rio weren't even told and it has been kept hush hush!

All well and good CJ.

But an equally important question should be, when will CASA allow further expansion of the Skywest ATR fleet?

I would assume an announcement would be made shortly considering #6 is soon due... I would also keep a slight view on Boeing for an announcement ;)

Kingfisher's A330's have Pratt's, while Virgin's are Roller's. If Kingfisher's aircraft have been built or under construction then there is no way these aircraft will end up in VAA's colours. They might be able to get the build slots that Kingfisher had, but has it stands Airbus still hasn't cancelled their order yet.

Old news Krusty. That was when Skywest had 4 ATR's on the AOC. Now they have 6 being operated. Pretty much answers the question.

Another 6 to come in FY12/13. :ok:

You looking for a position on the ATR Krusty?

Not planning to SHVC. I wish the Skywest guys and girls all the best. Fact is though Chadzat, it was supposed to be 18, spread over 3 bases!

Whether or not some creative accounting is employed or not, the French still have to be paid for these aircraft. With ground support, training, and all the other odds and ends, it's gotta' amount to somewhere in the region of 250-300 mil! Tall order for a company that posted only a $12mil profit last year!

My guess is that the DJ/Skywest gig won't, hasn't, grown anywhere near as quickly as first advertised. Will it all fall in a heap? I hope not. In fact I'll say DJ may have to stump up somewhat more cash in this little venture than they first might have thought. I think you'll find that has occurred already.

Krusty, you should stick to the REX threads cause you've obviously got no idea with regards to the DJ/Skywest gig.

Original plan was for 4 ATR72-500's at this stage. As the 600's came in they were to replace the 500's which were to be shipped off to Skywest. Virgin are making so much dough out of them that they decided to keep the 500's and infact managed to secure 2 extra machines which became available. So at the moment they are in fact 2 extra machines ahead of schedule and by the end of FY12/13 they'll be 6 ahead totalling 10. The 18 you speak of was the original deal and was the end plan, ie 18 machines by the end of the 10 year deal. I now think you'll see quite a few more than that.

As for the finances, I won't even try to explain that, but rest assured its a good deal for both Companies.

XRlent320,

I find your post condescending and arrogant, what makes you think its OK to respond to Krusty in such a way, his/her questions were respectful and concise.

Your apparent blind following of your company makes you look rather dull.

You must be a "real gem" to share a cockpit with.

I also wish Skywest and Virgin well, but do not under estimate the magnitude of the task they have embarked on, and again good luck to them.

I'm sorry you felt that way SDT. All of a sudden I've realised why I haven't posted on here for so long.

I was trying to fill Krusty in on some facts that he obviously wasn't aware of before. Hence his post re numbers of aircraft.

The finance statement was not a shot a Krusty but a statement to the fact that the deal between DJ and Skywest is complex and would be too hard to explain on here. Its been tried before but obviously not well enough.

Anyway, I am an arsehole to fly with. And my previous post obviously points that out.

Ciao

Shed dog TOSSER,

It says it all.

Krusty, mate I thought we had an understanding!? :ok: I dont want to get this thread into a slinging match, but XRlent has it correct.

You have mistaken the 'end game' 10 year deal as what you thought was going to happen after 12 months. These ATR's have only been operating RPT since October remember!

If Rex tried to double its fleet over the space of 3 or so years, what do you think would happen? Would there be growing pains? I think any flying organisation is doing well to add even 50% capacity with the way our illustrious regulator runs things.

As XRlent said, its a complex deal, the explanation of which would be on Skywest SXR ASX releases. In short- Skywest the company arent buying the aircraft from ATR.

Getting back to topic- it was good to see full Business and Premium Economy in the B777 on the way to Abu Dhabi recently! :ok:

SDT,

I find your previous posts condescending and arrogant. Take this one for example.


Shed Dog Tosser
*
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 280
Quote:
"If ticket prices are reducing whilst employees ask for higher wages"
With multiple statements like this under your belt, it is clear you do not know what you are talking about, i.e. what this is all about.


What was that saying about kettles and black.....