Virgin Atlantic

[fruitbat]

The Telegraph are reporting Greybull, formerly of Monarch fame, are one of the interested parties in VS. They see VS as “viable, but in need of restructuring”

[Chris2303]

Originally Posted by LGW Vulture

HMG are pissing away billions already to save the already very old and frail.

And what if those old and frail were your relatives?

[zfw]

Originally Posted by fruitbat

The Telegraph are reporting Greybull, formerly of Monarch fame, are one of the interested parties in VS. They see VS as “viable, but in need of restructuring”

The kiss of death, anything this lot touch ends in disaster.

[UAV689]

Originally Posted by zfw

The kiss of death, anything this lot touch ends in disaster.

monach, comet, reiley’s, morrisons local, milked british steel...

Not venture capitalists, but vulture.

[Andy D]

Originally Posted by LGW Vulture

So why not spend a bit more on carriers that the Government have single handedly driven to bankruptcy.

That airlines are going bust in the Government's fault is a popular narrative around these parts.

But the reality is there's a collapse in demand, even if airlines could fly normally, passengers don't want to fly - read yesterday something along the lines of average internal flight in US has 17 passengers, and internationals have 29.

There are real questions about the way VS is structured, and the impact that has on it being a viable company - relying on huge amounts of debt to run a sometimes profitable / often loss making business leads to there being no breathing room when catastrophe strikes.

And that leveraged corporate structure is ultimately down to VS' management and shareholders

Aware airlines going bust has a massive personal impact on the people who work for them, and being specialised makes many people have made significant investments in their careers

[turbine100]

Greybull didnt exactly do a great job at Monarch, Delta had money from the U.S Government and are not allowed to use that for VA. Perhaps VA's announcement of having the administrators on standby or advising, is to show the Government they have done everything they can. Insolvency laws are to have proposed changes put through parliament next week, which might benefit VA.

It will depend on the cash in the bank, daily cash flow for how long they have left. The new CEO is a good guy with a finance background. Hopefully VA have done enough to get a loan from the government with the recent cut backs and restructure the business model for the future, perhaps diversifying in cargo. Many third party suppliers and their employees would be affected if they went.

VA have some really good people, all are working hard to help the company as much as they can. I wish the best outcome for everybody at VA, to get through this and continue to compete against BA.

[Go4PoweredDecent]

Better to go bust than let Redbull come in and steal everything, including your pension.

[BBK]

Quote

“VA (just VA, I am going to use initials like most humans), is not a major player and therefore won't be HMG's primary occupation, no matter which website site owner flies in the left-hand seat.”

Banana4321

if you really must use an abbreviation the perhaps the correct IATA one which is VS. Any professional in the airline industry would know that. VA is the code for Virgin Australia discussed elsewhere.

Also, I think you will find that the insinuation about the website owner is out of date.

[DaveReidUK]

Originally Posted by BBK

if you really must use an abbreviation the perhaps the correct IATA one which is VS. Any professional in the airline industry would know that. VA is the code for Virgin Australia discussed elsewhere.

You might want to keep an eye on the Southwest 737 thread, in case anyone should dare to use SW as an abbreviation for that airline.

[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.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...funds-11985678

[Holer Moler]

Ohhh dear- This company doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Q- If VS goes into administration what happens to the LHR slots as I believe they are mortgaged ?

​​​​​​https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/...ybull-capital/

[Longtimer]

Originally Posted by Chris2303

And what if those old and frail were your relatives?

And don't forget ,,,, the old and frail do spend a lot of $$$$ on vacation travel which of course includes air. And another positive, they rarely have to be taken off the aircraft because of misbehavior.

[LGW Vulture]

Originally Posted by Longtimer

And don't forget ,,,, the old and frail do spend a lot of $$$$ on vacation travel which of course includes air. And another positive, they rarely have to be taken off the aircraft because of misbehavior.

My Father is 85 and frail and I didnt make such a comment with a blase approach. However, I have been on enough flights diverted to other airports because of seniors becoming ill. Never have I been diverted due to misbehaviour. And on average, I fly 80 sectors per year worldwide.

[Longtimer]

Originally Posted by LGW Vulture

My Father is 85 and frail and I didnt make such a comment with a blase approach. However, I have been on enough flights diverted to other airports because of seniors becoming ill. Never have I been diverted due to misbehaviour. And on average, I fly 80 sectors per year worldwide.

80 sectors a year... hmmm flights diverted to other airports because of seniors hmmmm Strange I don't remember many but perhaps the news did not report them.
The Aviation Herald

[tcasblue]

I would think that the government, which no doubt is in a huge debt situation and limited money should be more concerned about companies like Rolls Royce. New airlines pop up when the economy recovers....engine manufacturers, not so easy.

[LGW Vulture]

Originally Posted by Longtimer

80 sectors a year... hmmm flights diverted to other airports because of seniors hmmmm Strange I don't remember many but perhaps the news did not report them.
The Aviation Herald

Your latter assumption is correct.

[beardy]

Originally Posted by LGW Vulture

My Father is 85 and frail and I didnt make such a comment with a blase approach. However, I have been on enough flights diverted to other airports because of seniors becoming ill. Never have I been diverted due to misbehaviour. And on average, I fly 80 sectors per year worldwide.

I have flown many more than 80 sectors per year, as captain, for more than 20 years and can remember both medical diversions. One was a gentleman in his 50s the other a lady who was hemorrhaging and sadly lost her baby.
An anecdote does not necessarily tell the whole story and is, on its own, useless in compiling statistics.

[Uplinker]

Originally Posted by UAV689

Monarch, Comet, Reiley’s, Morrison's local, milked British Steel...

Not venture capitalists, but vulture.

(my bold and capitals)

As a former Monarch victim; if these particular venture capitalists get involved, then it's probably all over. They are the equivalent of a house clearance company. They put a big skip on the driveway and pick over what they can sell, chucking everything else into the skip; and that includes the employees. Get out of there and take your DB pension - if you have one - while you still can.

[t1grm]

So how does this affect Virgin Holidays? I know they are a separate company but presumably if VS stop flying then Virgin Holidays are not really going to be able to fulfil their commitments. Would they be obliged to get people to their destinations on other carriers? I have a holiday booked through them to Antigua in October.

[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)