Ansett: taste of things to come
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Ansett: taste of things to come
Mon "Melbourne Age"
A taste of things to come at Ansett
By DAVID ELIAS . .AND STATHI PAXINOS . .Monday 4 February 2002 . .ISSUES 2001: Ansett crisis
The passengers on board two Ansett flights between Melbourne and Sydney expected nothing more from the airline's cash-strapped administrators than a glass of water. Instead they were treated to a preview of the meals that Ansett's prospective new owners plan to serve their passengers.
In business class there was a choice of ciabatta rolls filled with beef, marinated eggplant and peppers, or green Thai chicken pita wraps, all served with boutique beers, wine and champagne and followed by fresh fruit, tea and coffee. In the main cabin there was no choice, but a full bar service accompanied the pita wraps.
It was done 10 days ago without fanfare and most certainly without media attendance, lest the details or the recipes should prematurely reach the lunchbox operators at Qantas.
According to the crew on board AN flights 722 and 741, the passengers gave their approval, with rounds of applause at the end of the journeys.
For 265 people it was a gourmet meal. For a public starved of information it is but a tasty morsel; evidence that the new Ansett will be serving food and a sign that it will be offering its customers a service.
. .So far little has been revealed about the airline that the Tesna consortium, headed by businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, will operate. But as negotiations over the Ansett lease at Sydney Airport turned nasty last week, early signs emerged that a fierce dogfight will erupt in our skies.
For example, there was the rumour that the A320 Airbuses Tesna is leasing from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse are not new but the left-overs from Sabena, the recently collapsed Belgian airline, and America West, where a Tesna backer, Bill Franke, was chief executive.
The rumour, which Tesna has denied, came from an unnamed airline source. It is typical of the sandbagging that is a hallmark of a highly competitive industry, which fights over every bum on 18 million seats a year.
In the tumultuous months since the Ansett collapse, the business of actually flying passengers to and fro has been relatively straightforward. Once Qantas managed to cobble together sufficient aircraft to carry the excess of passengers, its market share grew to 80 per cent and held steady. Virgin Blue and the Ansett skeleton operated by administrators Mark Mentha and Mark Korda were left with the scraps.
But as soon as Tesna completes its $514 million purchase of Ansett's intercapital business, the battle for market share will resume. And there is no reason to assume that it will be any different from the take-no-prisoners affair it has always been.
Expect announcements to come thick and fast from all three players. Expect many of these to be targeted at the 2.7 million people still angry at the loss of 70 billion Global Reward points - enough to keep Ansett flying between Sydney and Melbourne for 65 years.
Tesna has promised to release details of its new frequent flyer program this week, although there are unlikely to be any surprises following last week's leaks to the media indicating how huge first-flight bonus points would seek to lure former customers on board the new Ansett.
Qantas concedes that it will lose some of its present market share but, by dint of his aggressive political lobbying during the Ansett administration, managing director Geoff Dixon has demonstrated that the airline will not give ground without a fight.
Aviation consultant Peter Harbison, managing director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, estimates that Australia's domestic market has room for 110 jet aircraft. But once the new Ansett becomes fully active with its new Airbus fleet, there will be a minimum of 130 aircraft plying between capital city airports.
By this time next year Qantas will have 72 aircraft in its domestic fleet; Virgin Blue expects to have 23. Both airlines will still be building on their fleets while Ansett hopes to be on its way to 29 new Airbuses.
With the equivalent of 20 empty aircraft flying the southern skies, the dogfight will become ferocious. Aviation is about yields - the percentage of passengers per aircraft - and to win those yields the airlines are likely to resort to a price war. And that could be crippling. Remember the fate of the two Southern Cross airlines of the early 1990s and more recently the swallowing by Qantas of Impulse.
There is already evidence of a shrinking domestic market. In November, 2000, the domestic airlines carried 1.723 million passengers. A year later this had dropped 12.5 per cent to 1.507 million, due perhaps more to economic conditions than any fear of flying brought about by the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
Harbison predicts many vacant seats at the price-sensitive end of the market, where Virgin Blue and Qantas are slugging it out. "It's primarily about passenger numbers, not quality. They need the yields," he said.
Qantas has started taking delivery of a new fleet of 15 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, all configured for economy class only, which it will use in this battle with Virgin Blue. Harbison says Qantas took the decision to import these aircraft because it miscalculated the market two years ago and found itself exposed when Impulse and Virgin Blue arrived.
Qantas controls the market from top to bottom, with Virgin Blue competing for the lower end leisure and holiday travellers while harbouring ambitions of a move upmarket to budget-conscious business travellers.
The new Ansett plans to move against Qantas at the lucrative top end of the scale, with a two-class airline where economy class will be redefined as main cabin.
Fox and Lew served notice on Qantas at a press conference in November called to announce their intended purchase of Ansett. Fox said he was a bit of a street fighter and he was going to claw back market share.
However, this week Tesna's media spokeswoman, Heather Jeffery, revealed a modest target of 25 per cent market share, but nearly all of it top-drawer.
Ansett is mainly interested in corporate flyers and frequently-flying leisure travellers, the types who regularly take short-stay trips to the Queensland sunshine.
Jeffery says the target is modest because Tesna has it focus on yields and quality as much as fares.
She says sales teams in the capitals have been recruited and trained on the new products.
They have started contacting former Ansett customers and other big companies which they believe have yet to sign contracts for their business travel this year.
"Our total concentration is on quality. Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox are very particular about what they serve their customers. They want the business class to be first class. They use the term main cabin rather than economy."
She says the meals experiment was a good example. Tesna's caterers have studied the modern cafe/food hall scene in Australia and overseas. "We have looked at what our sort of customers want to eat and our meals will reflect that. We are going in the opposite direction to the others. The foods will be gourmet, the portions will be generous and in business class there will be silver service."
Jeffery says the new Ansett will throw its emphasis on service. It will concentrate on schedules, punctuality, swift baggage handling, valet parking, ease of movement through airports.
The name Ansett will stay and for the moment so will the livery. If there is to be any new paintwork it will be unveiled when the new Airbuses arrive from France. The new Ansett will start by serving five cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth - over eight routes, but it will increase the number of flights from 424 a week to 530.
Jeffery says their planning is at an advanced stage: everything will be in place before the ink is dry on the contracts.
However, the industry rumour mill would have the public believe that Tesna's planning is behind schedule, just like its contract negotiations, which were seen last week to be jeopardised by their failure to reach agreement with the Sydney Airport Corporation over the assignment of the all-important Ansett terminal lease.
The opposition would have everyone believe that they were minding their own business and not worrying about Ansett.
Virgin Blue's head of commercial operations, David Huttner, said: "Since late September we have adopted a policy of not reacting to the Ansett situation. We did not plan to change our strategy on February 2 when we expected the new Ansett to start flying, and I suspect we won't be changing if they start flying on March 1."
He says Virgin Blue is profitable. It made $8.2 million in the half year to September and it retains its $11 million seed capital. This shows the airline has developed a strong and profitable niche, he says.
The start of February heralds Australia's return to work and the airlines are refocusing their marketing effort from holiday to workday traffic.
Virgin Blue has begun a new advertising campaign that emphasises service.
Qantas is taking care of business, too, by extending its CityFlyer service to Brisbane. It is also moving on the other end of the market with the arrival of the one-class 737-800s.
A taste of things to come at Ansett
By DAVID ELIAS . .AND STATHI PAXINOS . .Monday 4 February 2002 . .ISSUES 2001: Ansett crisis
The passengers on board two Ansett flights between Melbourne and Sydney expected nothing more from the airline's cash-strapped administrators than a glass of water. Instead they were treated to a preview of the meals that Ansett's prospective new owners plan to serve their passengers.
In business class there was a choice of ciabatta rolls filled with beef, marinated eggplant and peppers, or green Thai chicken pita wraps, all served with boutique beers, wine and champagne and followed by fresh fruit, tea and coffee. In the main cabin there was no choice, but a full bar service accompanied the pita wraps.
It was done 10 days ago without fanfare and most certainly without media attendance, lest the details or the recipes should prematurely reach the lunchbox operators at Qantas.
According to the crew on board AN flights 722 and 741, the passengers gave their approval, with rounds of applause at the end of the journeys.
For 265 people it was a gourmet meal. For a public starved of information it is but a tasty morsel; evidence that the new Ansett will be serving food and a sign that it will be offering its customers a service.
. .So far little has been revealed about the airline that the Tesna consortium, headed by businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, will operate. But as negotiations over the Ansett lease at Sydney Airport turned nasty last week, early signs emerged that a fierce dogfight will erupt in our skies.
For example, there was the rumour that the A320 Airbuses Tesna is leasing from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse are not new but the left-overs from Sabena, the recently collapsed Belgian airline, and America West, where a Tesna backer, Bill Franke, was chief executive.
The rumour, which Tesna has denied, came from an unnamed airline source. It is typical of the sandbagging that is a hallmark of a highly competitive industry, which fights over every bum on 18 million seats a year.
In the tumultuous months since the Ansett collapse, the business of actually flying passengers to and fro has been relatively straightforward. Once Qantas managed to cobble together sufficient aircraft to carry the excess of passengers, its market share grew to 80 per cent and held steady. Virgin Blue and the Ansett skeleton operated by administrators Mark Mentha and Mark Korda were left with the scraps.
But as soon as Tesna completes its $514 million purchase of Ansett's intercapital business, the battle for market share will resume. And there is no reason to assume that it will be any different from the take-no-prisoners affair it has always been.
Expect announcements to come thick and fast from all three players. Expect many of these to be targeted at the 2.7 million people still angry at the loss of 70 billion Global Reward points - enough to keep Ansett flying between Sydney and Melbourne for 65 years.
Tesna has promised to release details of its new frequent flyer program this week, although there are unlikely to be any surprises following last week's leaks to the media indicating how huge first-flight bonus points would seek to lure former customers on board the new Ansett.
Qantas concedes that it will lose some of its present market share but, by dint of his aggressive political lobbying during the Ansett administration, managing director Geoff Dixon has demonstrated that the airline will not give ground without a fight.
Aviation consultant Peter Harbison, managing director of the Centre for Asia-Pacific Aviation, estimates that Australia's domestic market has room for 110 jet aircraft. But once the new Ansett becomes fully active with its new Airbus fleet, there will be a minimum of 130 aircraft plying between capital city airports.
By this time next year Qantas will have 72 aircraft in its domestic fleet; Virgin Blue expects to have 23. Both airlines will still be building on their fleets while Ansett hopes to be on its way to 29 new Airbuses.
With the equivalent of 20 empty aircraft flying the southern skies, the dogfight will become ferocious. Aviation is about yields - the percentage of passengers per aircraft - and to win those yields the airlines are likely to resort to a price war. And that could be crippling. Remember the fate of the two Southern Cross airlines of the early 1990s and more recently the swallowing by Qantas of Impulse.
There is already evidence of a shrinking domestic market. In November, 2000, the domestic airlines carried 1.723 million passengers. A year later this had dropped 12.5 per cent to 1.507 million, due perhaps more to economic conditions than any fear of flying brought about by the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.
Harbison predicts many vacant seats at the price-sensitive end of the market, where Virgin Blue and Qantas are slugging it out. "It's primarily about passenger numbers, not quality. They need the yields," he said.
Qantas has started taking delivery of a new fleet of 15 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, all configured for economy class only, which it will use in this battle with Virgin Blue. Harbison says Qantas took the decision to import these aircraft because it miscalculated the market two years ago and found itself exposed when Impulse and Virgin Blue arrived.
Qantas controls the market from top to bottom, with Virgin Blue competing for the lower end leisure and holiday travellers while harbouring ambitions of a move upmarket to budget-conscious business travellers.
The new Ansett plans to move against Qantas at the lucrative top end of the scale, with a two-class airline where economy class will be redefined as main cabin.
Fox and Lew served notice on Qantas at a press conference in November called to announce their intended purchase of Ansett. Fox said he was a bit of a street fighter and he was going to claw back market share.
However, this week Tesna's media spokeswoman, Heather Jeffery, revealed a modest target of 25 per cent market share, but nearly all of it top-drawer.
Ansett is mainly interested in corporate flyers and frequently-flying leisure travellers, the types who regularly take short-stay trips to the Queensland sunshine.
Jeffery says the target is modest because Tesna has it focus on yields and quality as much as fares.
She says sales teams in the capitals have been recruited and trained on the new products.
They have started contacting former Ansett customers and other big companies which they believe have yet to sign contracts for their business travel this year.
"Our total concentration is on quality. Solomon Lew and Lindsay Fox are very particular about what they serve their customers. They want the business class to be first class. They use the term main cabin rather than economy."
She says the meals experiment was a good example. Tesna's caterers have studied the modern cafe/food hall scene in Australia and overseas. "We have looked at what our sort of customers want to eat and our meals will reflect that. We are going in the opposite direction to the others. The foods will be gourmet, the portions will be generous and in business class there will be silver service."
Jeffery says the new Ansett will throw its emphasis on service. It will concentrate on schedules, punctuality, swift baggage handling, valet parking, ease of movement through airports.
The name Ansett will stay and for the moment so will the livery. If there is to be any new paintwork it will be unveiled when the new Airbuses arrive from France. The new Ansett will start by serving five cities - Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth - over eight routes, but it will increase the number of flights from 424 a week to 530.
Jeffery says their planning is at an advanced stage: everything will be in place before the ink is dry on the contracts.
However, the industry rumour mill would have the public believe that Tesna's planning is behind schedule, just like its contract negotiations, which were seen last week to be jeopardised by their failure to reach agreement with the Sydney Airport Corporation over the assignment of the all-important Ansett terminal lease.
The opposition would have everyone believe that they were minding their own business and not worrying about Ansett.
Virgin Blue's head of commercial operations, David Huttner, said: "Since late September we have adopted a policy of not reacting to the Ansett situation. We did not plan to change our strategy on February 2 when we expected the new Ansett to start flying, and I suspect we won't be changing if they start flying on March 1."
He says Virgin Blue is profitable. It made $8.2 million in the half year to September and it retains its $11 million seed capital. This shows the airline has developed a strong and profitable niche, he says.
The start of February heralds Australia's return to work and the airlines are refocusing their marketing effort from holiday to workday traffic.
Virgin Blue has begun a new advertising campaign that emphasises service.
Qantas is taking care of business, too, by extending its CityFlyer service to Brisbane. It is also moving on the other end of the market with the arrival of the one-class 737-800s.
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HAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA...... .Quote. ."The passengers on board two Ansett flights between Melbourne and Sydney expected nothing more from the airline's cash-strapped administrators than a glass of water. Instead they were treated to a preview of the meals that Ansett's prospective new owners plan to serve their passengers.
In business class there was a choice of ciabatta rolls filled with beef, marinated eggplant and peppers, or green Thai chicken pita wraps, all served with boutique beers, wine and champagne and followed by fresh fruit, tea and coffee. In the main cabin there was no choice, but a full bar service accompanied the pita wraps.
It was done 10 days ago without fanfare and most certainly without media attendance, lest the details or the recipes should prematurely reach the lunchbox operators at Qantas.". .Unquote
. .No one believes this crap. So they found a sucker company to provide food on a couple of flights, big deal!! I hope they paid them cash as the staff are still waiting for their government guaranteed entitlements (SEESA) five months after the collapse of Ansett. Ask any of your friends if they would buy a ticket on AN MK2 and see what they say.
Quote. ."So far little has been revealed about the airline that the Tesna consortium, headed by businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, will operate. But as negotiations over the Ansett lease at Sydney Airport turned nasty last week, early signs emerged that a fierce dogfight will erupt in our skies.
For example, there was the rumour that the A320 Airbuses Tesna is leasing from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse are not new but the left-overs from Sabena, the recently collapsed Belgian airline, and America West, where a Tesna backer, Bill Franke, was chief executive.
The rumour, which Tesna has denied, came from an unnamed airline source. It is typical of the sandbagging that is a hallmark of a highly competitive industry, which fights over every bum on 18 million seats a year". .Unquote
Are there any engineers left at Ansett, I thought they had all left or are planning on retirement or a job O/S as Tesna did not require their services!! Tesna is in for a rude shock after they finally realise that they need skilled people and will have to pay for them.
In business class there was a choice of ciabatta rolls filled with beef, marinated eggplant and peppers, or green Thai chicken pita wraps, all served with boutique beers, wine and champagne and followed by fresh fruit, tea and coffee. In the main cabin there was no choice, but a full bar service accompanied the pita wraps.
It was done 10 days ago without fanfare and most certainly without media attendance, lest the details or the recipes should prematurely reach the lunchbox operators at Qantas.". .Unquote
. .No one believes this crap. So they found a sucker company to provide food on a couple of flights, big deal!! I hope they paid them cash as the staff are still waiting for their government guaranteed entitlements (SEESA) five months after the collapse of Ansett. Ask any of your friends if they would buy a ticket on AN MK2 and see what they say.
Quote. ."So far little has been revealed about the airline that the Tesna consortium, headed by businessmen Lindsay Fox and Solomon Lew, will operate. But as negotiations over the Ansett lease at Sydney Airport turned nasty last week, early signs emerged that a fierce dogfight will erupt in our skies.
For example, there was the rumour that the A320 Airbuses Tesna is leasing from Airbus Industrie in Toulouse are not new but the left-overs from Sabena, the recently collapsed Belgian airline, and America West, where a Tesna backer, Bill Franke, was chief executive.
The rumour, which Tesna has denied, came from an unnamed airline source. It is typical of the sandbagging that is a hallmark of a highly competitive industry, which fights over every bum on 18 million seats a year". .Unquote
Are there any engineers left at Ansett, I thought they had all left or are planning on retirement or a job O/S as Tesna did not require their services!! Tesna is in for a rude shock after they finally realise that they need skilled people and will have to pay for them.
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Capt_Zoolander you sure have got your panties in a bunch about the SEESA payment. Maybe I'm delusioned but I believe that processing redundancies for around 12,000 staff takes time - and if you've been waiting five months for your SEESA then you should be in contact with the staff hotline!
Anyway I digress.... .Actually I just wanted to make a comment about the catering on the flights mentioned in the above article. Capt_Zoolander perhaps you are not aware that before any change in food service or delivery there is always a trial. Sometimes there's trial after trial after trial, to make sure the food is right, the contents are right, and the delivery is acceptable. The 2 flights mentioned in the article were exactly that, a trial. Nothing shocking, nothing outrageous or scandalous, merely a trial of the new service to gauge passenger feedback and see whether the new service is feasible given the time frame, customer demands etc.
The trial would be paid for by Tesna since the new service applies to them. As for friends buying tickets with Tesna/ANMK2 - sure why not? I've had many many passengers comment to me that they are looking forward to travelling with the NewAnsett. Sure there will be those who will choose not to travel with AN, for their own reasons and that is entirely their choice.
Can't comment on the rest of Capt_Z's observations as I'm not particularly au fait with what's going on in engineering.
SG
Anyway I digress.... .Actually I just wanted to make a comment about the catering on the flights mentioned in the above article. Capt_Zoolander perhaps you are not aware that before any change in food service or delivery there is always a trial. Sometimes there's trial after trial after trial, to make sure the food is right, the contents are right, and the delivery is acceptable. The 2 flights mentioned in the article were exactly that, a trial. Nothing shocking, nothing outrageous or scandalous, merely a trial of the new service to gauge passenger feedback and see whether the new service is feasible given the time frame, customer demands etc.
The trial would be paid for by Tesna since the new service applies to them. As for friends buying tickets with Tesna/ANMK2 - sure why not? I've had many many passengers comment to me that they are looking forward to travelling with the NewAnsett. Sure there will be those who will choose not to travel with AN, for their own reasons and that is entirely their choice.
Can't comment on the rest of Capt_Z's observations as I'm not particularly au fait with what's going on in engineering.
SG
Capt_Zoolander, I really feel for your position regarding pay and entitlements.
But I can't believe Messrs Fox and Lew would be forking out $514 million for Ansett if they didn't have someone in mind to kick the tyres and change the spark plugs occasionally! <img src="eek.gif" border="0">
But I can't believe Messrs Fox and Lew would be forking out $514 million for Ansett if they didn't have someone in mind to kick the tyres and change the spark plugs occasionally! <img src="eek.gif" border="0">
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Torres, They are not forking out $514 Million, this figure is one of many quoted in the media at times. I have also seen $3 Billion mentioned a few times. Tesna is Paying $270 million, and the staff that choose to work for the new company are paying for their jobs with their entitlements of $244 million.. .As AN mk2 is losing about $7 million a week these losses have to be taken off the $270 million, so what are they really paying if the deal proceeds?
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SydGirl, I think I read somewhere that you were an F/A with the old Ansett and have signed up with Tesna. I probably know you, and I am sure that you are a very good F/A with lots of people skills, just the sort of person that any airline needs.
Post] Capt_Zoolander you sure have got your panties in a bunch about the SEESA payment. Maybe I'm delusioned but I believe that processing redundancies for around 12,000 staff takes time - and if you've been waiting five months for your SEESA then you should be in contact with the staff hotline!
Jeez, you have really been brainwashed, have you tried calling the staff hotline, there are so many ex-staff trying to find out where their money is you can't get through.
Apart from my redundancy payment, the dickheads have also run off with my super, memo to anyone, see how far you get if you try to withdraw or roll over your super!!
p.s. if I or any other staff members have a piece of paper with our SEESA payment to the nearest cent on it what's the problem? The problem is, they have blown our money running the airline at a loss and gambled on a sale, now they have run off to court again for a legal sanction for what they have done. The thing that really bugs me about this is we are paying for it. The creditors meeting approved their fees!!!!
Post] Capt_Zoolander you sure have got your panties in a bunch about the SEESA payment. Maybe I'm delusioned but I believe that processing redundancies for around 12,000 staff takes time - and if you've been waiting five months for your SEESA then you should be in contact with the staff hotline!
Jeez, you have really been brainwashed, have you tried calling the staff hotline, there are so many ex-staff trying to find out where their money is you can't get through.
Apart from my redundancy payment, the dickheads have also run off with my super, memo to anyone, see how far you get if you try to withdraw or roll over your super!!
p.s. if I or any other staff members have a piece of paper with our SEESA payment to the nearest cent on it what's the problem? The problem is, they have blown our money running the airline at a loss and gambled on a sale, now they have run off to court again for a legal sanction for what they have done. The thing that really bugs me about this is we are paying for it. The creditors meeting approved their fees!!!!
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Zoolander, Ok you have lost your job and you are embittered by present circumstances over which you have no control. Many of us are in the same boat friend.. . An honest question for you, was your depth of loyalty and personal effort to ensure your companies success, of the same magnitude as your current cynicism and lack of wellwishing towards it now ?
Ansett gave you a privileged lifestyle for the years that you served them.. .Why not give this beleagued carrier some respect and thanks for the good years you have enjoyed there.
Ansett gave you a privileged lifestyle for the years that you served them.. .Why not give this beleagued carrier some respect and thanks for the good years you have enjoyed there.
