Is Flybe to be taken over by Stobart Group?

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• Ian says:

  27 Feb27 February 04:48

  I would assume the BA cost increase is the cost of strike action… how much they had to pay Qatar

  • Rob says:

    27 Feb27 February 07:11

    Given Qatar’s low costs I doubt it was much more than they saved by not paying striking crew.

    • Catalan says:

      27 Feb27 February 07:38

      But major costs would have been incurred from crew costs such as hotel accommodation and crew allowances for the Qatar crew whilst based in London, during the strike periods.

      • Rob says:

        27 Feb27 February 07:58

        Peanuts in terms of the cost base of an airline, I promise you. (And Qatar owns its own hotel now at Heathrow!) Irrespective, if you cause a strike which has a net cost to you then it wasn’t a very good idea to cause the strike in the first place ….

        Anyway, the good news is that all Cabin Service Directors on short haul are to be made redundant with the top role now being Purser. Another few quid saved at the expense of losing literally the most experienced cabin crew members.

      • PM says:

        27 Feb27 February 08:00

        I would agree with Catalan here. Moreover, Qatar might have had these planes standing by, but BA was really in need to have them and on short notice there was little other choice.
        Qatar probably asked for a good premium. And then again, the mixed fleet is getting paid £13k per annum base and a few more for flying, hardly much more expensive than Qatar staff could be…

      • RIccatti says:

        27 Feb27 February 09:29

        — Anyway, the good news is that all Cabin Service Directors on short haul are to be made redundant with the top role now being Purser. Another few quid saved at the expense of losing literally the most experienced cabin crew members.

        That is quite crazy, especially if they are talking redundancy. Sometimes, the only pleasant people on the plane are CSDs but I did notice they stopped recognition for BA Gold members, no one approaches you with a personal greeting anymore. AA and Cathay have a protocol that the crew knows Emerald elites’ names when serving them, even in economy.

      • Edgar says:

        27 Feb27 February 10:09

        “Irrespective, if you cause a strike which has a net cost to you then it wasn’t a very good idea to cause the strike in the first place ….”

        I think this is a very naive comment. Having increased costs for a quarter, or even a year to save future costs into perpetuity is the reason most companies will tolerate short-term strike action

      • RussellH says:

        27 Feb27 February 10:23

        From an employee point of view, it is only ever worth striking if the action will cost the commpany more than it costs the strikers.
        I do not know if it is still legal, but Italians had developed the 15 minute strike to a fine art last century. Earned lots of publicity, disrupted the company, but caused the general public little or no inconvenience and only cost 15 mins worth of pay.
        Trouble is, strikes these days no longer hit the right people. 200 years ago all businesses just about were owned and run by the same people. Striking mill workers meant that the mill owners suffered directly.
        What is needed is some way to make industrial action not hit the general public, but cause maximum unpleasantness to the likes of Alex Cruz.
        As a former TU Rep, I have been thinking about this for years, but never come up with a solution. But maybe some of the really clever people here might have some good ideas?

      • RussellH says:

        27 Feb27 February 10:30

        > all Cabin Service Directors on short haul are to be made redundant

        Ah, yes, always a good idea to get rid of the staff who really know what they doing and how to do it. All that knowledge and experience is really expensive, and we just cannot afford it any longer. Surely there are plenty of19 year olds out there who could do just as good a job, and their minimum wage costs are so much less than those of older people too.

        Oh b*****! We have got rid of the staff who knew what they were doing, but the CAA insists that we spend money traning these new staff. Do they think we are made of money??

        😉

  • Kristopher Kemp says:

    27 Feb27 February 11:02

    On my flight back from Hamburg a couple of weeks ago the CSD came through the flight greeting all the Gold exec members made a nice change… I thought they might be bring it back in…

• shd says:

  27 Feb27 February 05:46

  First thought: those pillows are bloody expensive

  Second thought: couldn’t happen to a nicer company!

  PS well done to Rob for not bringing LHR APD into it 😉

• shd says:

  27 Feb27 February 05:47

  LHR UB, even …

• Roger says:

  27 Feb27 February 05:59

  Any QR promo codes?

• callum says:

  27 Feb27 February 06:02

  It doesn’t really “come to nothing” – maybe the CASK would have risen by more than 4.7% without the cost cutting.

  • David says:

    27 Feb27 February 06:18

    Or less – the Bank Holiday IT Meltdown must have added a bit of cost, which might never have happened with reasonable contingencies in place.

    • RussellH says:

      27 Feb27 February 10:14

      Contingency and backups cost money. Keeping your fingers crossed is free. Does not always work though.
      🙂

    • pr99 says:

      27 Feb27 February 15:33

      It probably reduced the seat kilometres as well.

  • Rob says:

    27 Feb27 February 07:10

    Go to Waterside, then you see where the money goes. Probably the most luxurious company HQ in the UK.

    • shd says:

      27 Feb27 February 07:58

      …and the best bit is that HAL might get to knock Waterside down to build a 3rd runway!

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3963724/British-Airways-boss-stunned-discover-Heathrow-s-runway-demolish-200m-headquarters-looked-map.html

      If that ever happens it will count as true comedy genius 🙂

      • Rob says:

        27 Feb27 February 08:04

        HAL claims that BA was fully aware of this …. and to be honest BA is probably licking its lips at a fat compensation cheque.

        The real test would be whether BA moves into an easyJet-style ex-B&Q shed or spends £1bn on another glass and steel monster. Almost certainly the latter, which is why BA will never actually have an easyJet cost base.

      • callum says:

        27 Feb27 February 09:30

        Yeah that will be really interesting to see. Cost cutting on the planes while building an overly extravagant building for HQ staff won’t be the best look!

      • RIccatti says:

        27 Feb27 February 09:47

        That’s an example of a wrong-way exposure!

        Ultimately, it’s the customers who will pay for 3rd runway and the compensation meaning the ticket (passenger charge) will be more expensive than otherwise would.

      • John says:

        27 Feb27 February 09:58

        But arguable whether the incidence falls more on the passengers or on the airlines which may have to reduce the base fares.

      • Paul says:

        27 Feb27 February 13:23

        BA knew, Walsh knew, just him being him…

    • pr99 says:

      27 Feb27 February 15:35

      I always felt the building would make a good set for a low budget remake of Logans Run.

  • JAXBA says:

    27 Feb27 February 13:09

    That’s definitely the way IAG/BA are looking at it; if they hadn’t focused on costs, the CASK increase would have been much worse. Unfortunately, I expect Cruz’s response is going to be to double down on the cuts, just like WW before him, just like Ayling did in the late 90s…

    Rob, clarification on last paragraph; Plan4 isn’t just for “the various customer-facing changes” but it’s the catch-all phrase for all the restructuring/cost focusing/investment going on. Plan4 has sub parts, like Plan4Investment, or Plan4Future, or Plan4BuzzwordHere… it IS a cost reduction activity, but part of the way BA has long spun the raison de être for cost cutting is so they can invest in the future. They did it before the A380 order, before T5 (Fit for 5), under Eddington (Future Size & Shape)… It’s in the DNA: jam tomorrow…

    • shd says:

      28 Feb28 February 04:56

      Thanks for the info, JAXBA!

      Unfortunately it seems there are far too many punters (generally, not just BA’s!) who swallow “jam tomorrow” promises without engaging their brains at all. Many of the usual suspects outed themselves on the #BAInvestment4U thread on FT.

• David says:

  27 Feb27 February 06:16

  “Flybe – which uses avios as its reward currency”

  How many Flybe flights would you actually need to take to earn a free one? Given the shocking earning rate, low probability of posting automatically (never?), and the amusingly small window within which to claim (between 30 and 40 days after the flight), has anyone ever earned enough from Flybe for a reward flight? They’re more like a redemption partner, and even then a poor one, due to the taxes.

  • callum says:

    27 Feb27 February 06:32

    At least it’s a step up from their old scheme – every single reward flight I could find cost more in “taxes and charges” than just buying a cash ticket did!

  • shd says:

    27 Feb27 February 06:44

    It’s not as though the BAEC earn rate is anything to shout about.

    MAN-LHR in “CE” (!) earned me … wait for it … *875 Avios* recently.

    That’s what you’d get for converting £3.65 of Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

    Generous it isn’t!

    • Catalan says:

      27 Feb27 February 06:59

      No doubt you got your 40 tier points though. I’d shout about, for such a short flight 😉

    • John says:

      27 Feb27 February 10:03

      Well, how much was the flight?

      If value of Avios is 1p, MAN-LHR in CE is worth 9000 + 875 avios = £98.75 + £25 RFS fee = £123.75 (ignoring credit card Avios).

      £8.75 in avios is a 7% rebate of that.

      If Clubcard points are worth 1p, £3.65 is a 3% rebate.

      • Brian says:

        27 Feb27 February 10:59

        You can’t value Clubcard points and Avios both at 1p, given that 1 Clubcard point will get you 2.4 Avios!

      • shd says:

        27 Feb27 February 12:19

        I have no idea what you’re trying to show with those calculations!

• Gill says:

  27 Feb27 February 07:55

  OT – 1st time S.Korea trip planning. Any recommendations for Seoul hotels? I have the amex travel offer for 50 off 200 to be used by the end of the month. Got the platinum benefits if that sways things one way or another. Thanks

  • johnny_c-l says:

    27 Feb27 February 08:25

    I stayed at IC Grand Parnas the other week, it was a nice hotel and got a good Amb upgrade. Location felt a bit out of it but public transport is so good it wasn’t an issue, and I didn’t feel Seoul had a ‘central’ location anyway. The Aloft hotel near Myeongdong looked interesting and good for the market/shopping and access to N Seoul Tower, worth checking out if that’s your thing.

  • Jon says:

    27 Feb27 February 09:20

    I stayed in Plaza Hotel (as wanted a Marriott). Nice hotel, and good location..

  • Pangolin says:

    27 Feb27 February 11:52

    Platinum benefits on Amex won’t make any difference to your treatment at the hotel unless you’re making an FHR booking.

    If you had Marriott status then using them for an Amex Travel booking would make a lot of sense as they give full status recognition for third party bookings. Personally, I could recommend the Courtyard Nandaemun. Great staff and location and they even have an executive lounge (Golds and Platinums in Marriott Rewards will get access).

    But generally you needn’t limit yourself to a chain hotel. For your first trip to Seoul you’re better off staying on the North side of the Han river – that’s where most of the hotels are anyway. The closer to Myeongdong the better.

  • Gill says:

    27 Feb27 February 12:48

    Thanks folks – plenty for me to look into there.

• Peter says:

  27 Feb27 February 08:03

  Presumably the weaker pound versus the Euro has contributed to the higher costs at BA?

  • shd says:

    27 Feb27 February 08:30

    Plenty of BA customers paying in currency other than GBP

    • callum says:

      27 Feb27 February 09:32

      And plenty who aren’t (the majority I would imagine?).

    • Genghis says:

      27 Feb27 February 09:36

      Customers paying in currencies other than GBP affect top line revenue. Thought we’re talking about costs here?

      • John says:

        27 Feb27 February 10:05

        Aren’t fuel costs are in USD? GBP costs are mainly maintenance and salaries, I would think that EUR costs are mainly eurozone and related currencies (e.g. Denmark) airport fees.

      • HeathrowFlyer says:

        27 Feb27 February 21:05

        Is the CASK at constant currency?

        If so the FX variance will have no impact.

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