question for KMAKER

[Dean M]

heathrow has cancelled flight already due to bad weather that has been forcast, (but do we trust the MET?)

question is
am i right in thinking that the likes of BA fly planes from UK to the States and Canada and back again empty just to keep thier scheduled landing times/slots?
at times there are 9 - 10 flights leaving the UK to either of the above within a very 15 minutes


if i am correct maybe the airlines should do away with scheduled flight and just have a new form of charted
i have flown from UK to Canada and back on plane that are only half full

[kmaker]

Hey Deano,
Sorry I missed this bud. In the airline biz right now, anything less than 80% full just doesn't cut it. Last week we had notification of another 2 airlines that ceased operations. Margins are too thin, fuel prices are a major factor and in some cases (AC for example) there's just too much employee pressure (I'll bet Tom picks up on this) for them to operate and make money.
It's a very, very complex business, maybe no different than the music biz.
Anyway, cheers. You can PM me if you like.
P

[rhondda rudie]

Originally Posted by kmaker

Hey Deano,
Sorry I missed this bud. In the airline biz right now, anything less than 80% full just doesn't cut it. Last week we had notification of another 2 airlines that ceased operations. Margins are too thin, fuel prices are a major factor and in some cases (AC for example) there's just too much employee pressure (I'll bet Tom picks up on this) for them to operate and make money.
It's a very, very complex business, maybe no different than the music biz.
Anyway, cheers. You can PM me if you like.
P

Will get back to you on this one Paul.

[kmaker]

Originally Posted by rhondda rudie

Will get back to you on this one Paul.

Knew you would mate, knew you would....

[Dean M]

Originally Posted by rhondda rudie

Will get back to you on this one Paul.

looks like other members of the politbro are checking flight times

Tom

how many trains are run empty?

[rhondda rudie]

Saw a documentary about 5 years ago called Skytruckers about a cargo only airline.There was a lot of talk about margins in it and one of the pilots said there was a saying in the industry,

"How do you end up with a small fortune in aviation?.........Start off with a big fortune".

Aviation has been hit by the double whammy of economic slowdown and huge increases in the price of fuel.My main gripe was with BA,as you may remember Paul,because of the bullying and macho posturing of the management there.I don't see such bad industrial relations as being an industry wide problem and ALL employees,both staff AND management have to realistic in these uncertain times..........Quite moderate,don't you think Paul.

Dean,there's another saying we railwaymen have.

"An empty train is a happy train".

[Dean M]

the only reasons i asked these questions is
most fights are scheduled but how many need to be
if 1 or 2 flights per airline were dropped..would it be a big problem?

isnt the runway times pre booked weeks/months in advance like shipping have booked..

[kmaker]

[QUOTE=rhondda rudie;1613441]Saw a documentary about 5 years ago called Skytruckers about a cargo only airline.There was a lot of talk about margins in it and one of the pilots said there was a saying in the industry,

"How do you end up with a small fortune in aviation?.........Start off with a big fortune".

Aviation has been hit by the double whammy of economic slowdown and huge increases in the price of fuel.My main gripe was with BA,as you may remember Paul,because of the bullying and macho posturing of the management there.I don't see such bad industrial relations as being an industry wide problem and ALL employees,both staff AND management have to realistic in these uncertain times..........Quite moderate,don't you think Paul.

Surprisingly so Tom... I agree with all you've said actually. I wasn't real close to the BA situation but that's an example of management that didn't work if it came to bullying.

[kmaker]

Originally Posted by Dean M

the only reasons i asked these questions is
most fights are scheduled but how many need to be
if 1 or 2 flights per airline were dropped..would it be a big problem?

isnt the runway times pre booked weeks/months in advance like shipping have booked..

Yeah, well that's the issue Dean. Airlines are becoming masters at managing loads by decreasing frequency, cancelling and consolidating flights and, if they have the ability, substituting larger or smaller aircraft depending on loads. It happens all the time on high traffic routes and, for the airline, a prudent thing to do. A necessary evil in the airline biz. It's just us poor passengers that feel the effects when they do that kind of thing.

You're referring to "slot times" (use of the runways, taxiways, apron and bridges) actually and yes they're negotiated well in advance with the various airports around the world. Airports like Heathrow have traffic issues because of the high demand. I forget the actual cost for parking an aircraft but it's really, really expensive and the cost gets passed along to the passenger. We cringe over here when we see an airfare from Toronto to London advertised for $199.00.....the actual cost is more like $700.00 when you factor in fuel surcharges, taxes and fees. The airlines have only just begun to include all costs to the passenger.

My biggest pet peeve is that the airports have become the nicest shopping malls in the world and the consumer pays for that.

Anyway, it's an interesting biz. Cheers, P