Flybe nosedives on profits warning

[woolley]

8 hours ago, Lxxx said:

BA City now then maybe. 

Sounds like a Manchester based regional subsidiary.

[woolley]

10 hours ago, John Wright said:

Just did a trial booking. early afternoon departure and tea time return out 28/4 and return 29/4, hand baggage only, £75

Full price, flexible return with hold baggage was £550. Less than Manx full price return in 2002

 

Bargain! They are doing LHR - Newquay again too.

I just don't see this. OK, I'm naysaying, but there was no Easyjet doing Gatwick for buttons in those days. Manx had it all to themselves so it was their offer or don't go. I know that there is some residual business connection demand for Heathrow where time is of the essence, but in the intervening years people have found other solutions either for travel, or for not going at all and doing it by technology. I hope I'm wrong and it flourishes, but I do think something has to give.

[Nellie]

Digging around a few aviation websites reveals the most likely explanation for all this. FlyBe are now owned by a consortium that includes Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic are, in turn, partly owned by Delta Airlines. Last week, Delta acquired some new slots at Heathrow from the Indian carrier, Jet, which allow them to arrive and depart Heathrow at exectly the times of these IOM flights. This is why the Flybe has a very long turnaround at Heathrow.

The rules on Heathrow slots require airlines to use, or lose. Delta can’t use this slot themselves at such short notice, so they are leasing it to Flybe on a ‘slot-sitting’ basis, until they figure out how they will use it in their own network. 

Expect the whole thing to disappear, by the end of the published timetable.

[Andy Onchan]

12 minutes ago, Nellie said:

Digging around a few aviation websites reveals the most likely explanation for all this. FlyBe are now owned by a consortium that includes Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic are, in turn, partly owned by Delta Airlines. Last week, Delta acquired some new slots at Heathrow from the Indian carrier, Jet, which allow them to arrive and depart Heathrow at exectly the times of these IOM flights. This is why the Flybe has a very long turnaround at Heathrow.

The rules on Heathrow slots require airlines to use, or lose. Delta can’t use this slot themselves at such short notice, so they are leasing it to Flybe on a ‘slot-sitting’ basis, until they figure out how they will use it in their own network. 

Expect the whole thing to disappear, by the end of the published timetable.

We all knew there'd be a sting in the tail because the math just doesn't add up.

Ah well.... make the most of it whilst it lasts.

[John Wright]

38 minutes ago, Nellie said:

Digging around a few aviation websites reveals the most likely explanation for all this. FlyBe are now owned by a consortium that includes Virgin Atlantic. Virgin Atlantic are, in turn, partly owned by Delta Airlines. Last week, Delta acquired some new slots at Heathrow from the Indian carrier, Jet, which allow them to arrive and depart Heathrow at exectly the times of these IOM flights. This is why the Flybe has a very long turnaround at Heathrow.

The rules on Heathrow slots require airlines to use, or lose. Delta can’t use this slot themselves at such short notice, so they are leasing it to Flybe on a ‘slot-sitting’ basis, until they figure out how they will use it in their own network. 

Expect the whole thing to disappear, by the end of the published timetable.

No, there are ring fenced domestic slots for regional routes from some merger years ago. Ironically used for a while by Virgin Red. It’s one of the fing fenced domestic regional slots, not a Delta ex Jet slot.

[Lxxx]

If it seems too good to be true it usually is and in this instance, I would think this is definitely the case. 

[Andy Onchan]

6 minutes ago, John Wright said:

No, there are ring fenced domestic slots for regional routes from some merger years ago. Ironically used for a while by Virgin Red. It’s one of the fing fenced domestic regional slots, not a Delta ex Jet slot.

So how do you square the long turn around?

[John Wright]

26 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

So how do you square the long turn around?

No idea. Operational reasons? Parked an hour from any terminal. Actual available landing and take off slots.

I’ll be interested to see how it goes. The cheap fares, not many each flight, are click bait headlines. They’ll make money on flexible full price business men and those on through fares off international connections. If they make money at all.

Im at LCY as I type, caught the 07.00. 2/3 full. LCY Flight timings are much better. I’m waiting for an international connection.

And I just tried looking at the flybe web site and it’s down, again.

[gettafa]

Back in the day, if only the Isle of Man owned those slots rather than the airline that used them.

[cheesypeas]

On 11/16/2018 at 12:50 PM, John Wright said:

 

Feeder flights (which is what this will be when re-branded Virgin) don't make money anyway. Much the same with BA.

[Nellie]

4 hours ago, John Wright said:

No, there are ring fenced domestic slots for regional routes from some merger years ago. Ironically used for a while by Virgin Red. It’s one of the fing fenced domestic regional slots, not a Delta ex Jet slot.

The existence for ring fenced domestic slots is well known and is a legacy of the BA takeover of British Midland some years ago.

However, this service appears to be unconnected, and is more likely to be related to the transaction highlighted in this link.

https://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/599822-flybe-9-a-92.html

The slot swap document in post 1845 shows a transaction involving Jet, Delta and Q400 aircraft, which obviously Delta don’t fly to the UK themselves.

Only Flybe know the whole story, but this looks credible to me, rather that a random use of the ringfenced remedy slots!

[Andy Onchan]

7 minutes ago, Nellie said:

The existence for ring fenced domestic slots is well known and is a legacy of the BA takeover of British Midland some years ago.

However, this service appears to be unconnected, and is more likely to be related to the transaction highlighted in this link.

https://www.pprune.org/airlines-airports-routes/599822-flybe-9-a-92.html

The slot swap document in post 1845 shows a transaction involving Jet, Delta and Q400 aircraft, which obviously Delta don’t fly to the UK themselves.

Only Flybe know the whole story, but this looks credible to me, rather that a random use of the ringfenced remedy slots!

Actually I thought the remedy slots were mostly Scottish routes.

[madmanxpilot]

Virgin got into the consortium to buy Flybe so that they could have feeder flights into LHR and MAN. Delta own 49% of Virgin, so they stand to benefit too. It is no surprise that they may be working together to get people from the regions to the hubs to populate their long haul flights...it’s all part of the plan.

There has even been talk of the A220 (formerly Bombardier C Series) aircraft, of which Delta have a massive order, finding their way into the Flybe fleet.

There will be a greater frequency of these flights if the demand is there.

The winter schedules will be published before too long, so we’ll see soon enough if it’s permanent or not 

[Chef Raekwon]

3 hours ago, madmanxpilot said:

Virgin got into the consortium to buy Flybe so that they could have feeder flights into LHR and MAN. Delta own 49% of Virgin, so they stand to benefit too. It is no surprise that they may be working together to get people from the regions to the hubs to populate their long haul flights...it’s all part of the plan.

There has even been talk of the A220 (formerly Bombardier C Series) aircraft, of which Delta have a massive order, finding their way into the Flybe fleet.

There will be a greater frequency of these flights if the demand is there.

The winter schedules will be published before too long, so we’ll see soon enough if it’s permanent or not 

Sounds interesting.  Also I had no idea about the Bombardier now being an Airbus.  I consider myself a little bit of an aviation nerd, but that had completely passed me by!

[woolley]

13 hours ago, gettafa said:

Back in the day, if only the Isle of Man owned those slots rather than the airline that used them.

Only airlines can hold slots.