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Virgin Atlantic

Old 11th May 2020, 12:06
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I think what ‘superpilot’ is saying is correct.. Your holiday flight may well go well on time, albeit with an operator (fully authorised and competent) that you may of course never have heard of.

The service will be different and the lovely red and white uniforms may well be a certain blue/black kind of thing.. But hey, you only need to fly there and back.. So I guess that’s why you get the holiday feelings..

Takes money to fly these days (I totally mean the cost to employ quality crew and the amazing support staff), but so long as Eastern European airlines can come an fill the void .. They will .. Just saying of course !

My best to all seeking to find a path through difficult times ..

Ad ..
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Old 11th May 2020, 12:24
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Yes I suppose they're hardly going to shunt me onto the BA service that flies LGW - ANU to roughly the same schedule. As long as they are EU certified and I don't end up on some aging cold war relic.

Frankly I'd rather be given an option to cancel but I doubt that will happen unless lock down is still in place in October.

It's a shame as in my limited experience of long-haul I have always found Virgin to be an excellent carrier. I've flown them to LAS, BGI and ANU in the past two years. The aircraft were clean and modern and the cabin crew seemed happy and smiley. I hope they find a way through this for the sake of the people working there. I don't think their owner comes out of this looking very good.
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Old 11th May 2020, 13:20
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Originally Posted by Count von Altibar
Looks like Virgin Atlantic are preparing for insolvency according to this news article. The 14 day quarantine announcement is a disaster for UK airlines no doubt I guess we have to face up to company failures, what a bad time to be an airline pilot. Good luck to VS let's hope Branson can come up with some emergency funding.

There was a story yesterday that he was trying to sell half of his Virgin Galatica enterprise to support VS - not sure how much of a market there will be for it though.
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Old 11th May 2020, 14:20
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Yep, article here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52596273
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Old 11th May 2020, 22:22
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Originally Posted by Superpilot
Expect them to be picked up by the social dumping experts that are Eastern European ACMIs (yes, they're starting to get heavy metal now too)
and how would an ACMI operator fly these without an AOC or route licence in place (that was held by the previous operator)?

I’d say there’s absolutely no chance that loads booked with Virgin Holidays would stand any chance of operating on a non-UK based Charter basis.

The most probable outcome will be a cancellation of the holiday or a re-booking into BA if they are operating the route again by then.
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Old 11th May 2020, 23:40
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Originally Posted by Chidken Sangwich
and how would an ACMI operator fly these without an AOC or route licence in place (that was held by the previous operator)?

I’d say there’s absolutely no chance that loads booked with Virgin Holidays would stand any chance of operating on a non-UK based Charter basis.

The most probable outcome will be a cancellation of the holiday or a re-booking into BA if they are operating the route again by then.
Are you in drugs?

Even Bad Air sub out to Qatar and others!
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Old 12th May 2020, 05:13
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Hang on can we please put the brakes on and stop this! It’s embarrassing and pathetic!

Virgin have not and are not going bust anytime soon! The cash balance is healthy, they are making cuts and hopefully will get funding in the near future!

yes they will make redundancies as every airline.

So all this nonsense about the company using Eastern European, British charter companies is just pure speculation from people sat at home behind a screen tapping away at their keyboards!

it’s embarrassing.
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Old 12th May 2020, 09:48
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JET!! : Heard it was 20% of his shareholding.
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Old 12th May 2020, 13:06
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You are correct - the original story in the FT said he was going to sell $1Bn of shares but n the event it turned out to be only $500m.
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Old 12th May 2020, 21:21
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Originally Posted by A320baby
Hang on can we please put the brakes on and stop this! It’s embarrassing and pathetic!

Virgin have not and are not going bust anytime soon! The cash balance is healthy, they are making cuts and hopefully will get funding in the near future!
Some perspective in this Bloomberg article:

Richard Branson scrambles to save his flailing Virgin empire
Ben Stupples, Bloomberg Published 9:56 a.m. ET May 12, 2020 | Updated 10:01 a.m. ET May 12, 2020

Covid-19 is exacting a heavy financial toll on one of the world’s most-recognizable entrepreneurs.

Richard Branson already has pledged a Caribbean island and at least $250 million to shore up a leisure and travel empire roiled by the coronavirus pandemic. Now he’s selling a chunk of his stake in Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., his most valuable listed asset, to raise as much as $500 million.

Over the past half century, Branson built Virgin Group into a sprawling collection of businesses with annual revenues exceeding $20 billion. But his practice of plunging most of the profits back into the ventures has left him scrambling for cash as governments balk at bailing out a billionaire famous for his flamboyant publicity stunts.



Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic, poses for a photo outside the New York Stock Exchange before his company's IPO, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. (Photo: Richard Drew, AP, File)

“He’s made a career for himself as the ultimate disruptor,” said David Hawkins, co-founder of family business consulting firm Percheron Advisory. “But now he’s faced with a disruptive world and, ironically, it’s not working for him right now. He’s again got to get ahead of the curve.”

Virgin Group spokesman Nick Fox said the Virgin Galactic stake held by investment company Vieco 10 could fall below 50%, depending on the size of the offering. Virgin Group owns 81% of Vieco 10, with the balance held by Aabar Space, an Abu Dhabi investment company. Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer George Whitesides declined to comment.

Branson, 69, isn’t alone. The market plunge triggered by the spread of the coronavirus has put pressure on rich families worldwide, with some facing margin calls this year on share-backed debt facilities.

Still, his are particularly high-profile struggles. Over the years, Branson has attempted world records, drove a tank down New York’s Fifth Avenue and leaped from the roof of a Las Vegas casino wearing a black suit and harness to launch one of his airlines.

Retaining Control

Few industries have been hit harder.

Virgin’s Australian airline is in administration, and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. courted potential investors Monday to avoid a similar fate. Just last year, Virgin Atlantic’s future seemed so promising that Branson scrapped the sale of a 30% stake to Air France-KLM in favor of retaining control.

“Because many of our businesses are in industries like travel, leisure and wellness, they are in a massive battle to survive and save jobs,” Branson said in a March blog post.

Virgin Galactic started trading publicly last year after merging with U.S. investment firm Social Capital Hedosophia. Branson will still have a stake worth more than $1 billion in the space-travel company even if he sells the maximum proposed amount disclosed Monday.

His net worth has dropped 12% this year to $5.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people. Branson’s other assets include a $169 million stake in Virgin Money UK Plc, a Swiss ski chalet in Verbier and an African game preserve.

Living in the British Virgin Islands – where residents pay no income or capital-gains taxes – hasn’t helped Branson in his bid for a bailout from the U.K. government. He said he bought his Caribbean island at age 29 because of his love of the locale and not for tax reasons.

“Happy to hear Branson is putting his hand in his own pocket rather than our tax coffers,” Labour Party lawmaker Margaret Hodge said Monday in a tweet.
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Old 12th May 2020, 23:02
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Looks like he's done the right thing at last and got some $$$ to keep Virgin Atlantic afloat for a while longer. The rate this crisis is going it'll likely just push back the inevitable, airlines are bringing virtually no money in and lots going out it's painful to watch it all unfold. Never thought I'd see times like this for civil aviation outside of a world war.
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Old 13th May 2020, 09:19
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Originally Posted by Jet II
You are correct - the original story in the FT said he was going to sell $1Bn of shares but n the event it turned out to be only $500m.
He only got $400m of that, which is a fair chunk of money in normal times, not so sure about now!

"Virgin Investments owns 80.7 per cent of Vieco 10, the vehicle selling the stake, with the remainder held by Aabar, the Abu Dhabi investment fund, so a successful placing of the shares could raise more than $400m for Sir Richard’s other businesses"

https://www.ft.com/content/2b6d204e-...6-ca694e1a3b27

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Old 13th May 2020, 12:02
  #473 (permalink)  
 
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Angel

Virgin Atlantic unveil summer 2021 schedule from Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow


https://www.virgin.com/news/virgin-a...me-summer-2021

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ions-2021.html

https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/...ester-glasgow/
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Old 13th May 2020, 12:21
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They might be announcing 2021 summer schedule but they're also appointing specialists in going into administration. Maybe a new leaner fitter VS can be resurrected if it does fall and some employees get their jobs back.

https://www.consultancy.uk/news/2454...ble-insolvency
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Old 14th May 2020, 07:38
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Originally Posted by A320baby
Hang on can we please put the brakes on and stop this! It’s embarrassing and pathetic!

Virgin have not and are not going bust anytime soon! The cash balance is healthy, they are making cuts and hopefully will get funding in the near future!.
Whilst no doubt you have skin in this... you can’t say that for sure. Going forward no airline is safe,
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Old 14th May 2020, 17:47
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Considering the present outlook for future profitable, at least break even, routes and service one can't expect Virgin to be in positioned to belong that sector to survive the next year. Always hoping that they will survive a hard headed view is that they are very likely to be squeezed by lack of passengers along with high costs which will put them at a very high level of failure even with the possible cash injection from RB. That said it's not certain that the injection will be made. I travel along with family members every year on a route that suits me and is just acceptable to me price wise as it's the only non stop available. Once did the same annual trip with AA, two stops but turned out three due to changes in its schedules. So I have a selfish desire for them survive never mind the miles I have with them. But reality and a view of commercial paths lead me to conclude to me dictates they will fall along with others in the real world of capitalism we all live by.
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Old 17th May 2020, 13:36
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Originally Posted by virgin mary
Virgin Atlantic unveil summer 2021 schedule from Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow[/h1]
https://www.virgin.com/news/virgin-a...me-summer-2021
Flights for summer 2021 will be on sale from May 16th, 2020. Visit Virgin Atlantic to find out more

Err no there not been waiting for a bit of BGI and next summer MCO still only bookable until April 13th.........................something going on?.
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Old 17th May 2020, 14:46
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Some may say premature for announcing 2021, but must be a good sign that they will get their loan or may even have had it, hopefully help all employees in the business regardless of which department they work, the last thing anybody needs is to be redundant in this living nightmare .
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Old 17th May 2020, 14:50
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Good way to get cash through the door to use right now.
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Old 17th May 2020, 19:06
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Good way to get cash through the door to use right now.
In theory yes, However with Virgin's current cash issues and media attention the credit card company's will be hanging onto most of that for a long time.
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