Might be on the cards
Sex God
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Should British Airways get a bank-style bailout?
This is the worst possible situation for BA.
They are currently having to deal with toss pot unions, they are losing money hand over fist and now this. The no fly restrictions are apparently costing BA one million pounds per HOUR.
When they can fly again what is the betting that the union then demands another strike.
I believe that if the banks can be bailed out for something that was their own damn fault, then BA should also be bailed out for something they have no control over.
You really not only have to feel for BA but also all the other airlines in a very bad financial situation.
Cough up the money HMG.
They are currently having to deal with toss pot unions, they are losing money hand over fist and now this. The no fly restrictions are apparently costing BA one million pounds per HOUR.
When they can fly again what is the betting that the union then demands another strike.
I believe that if the banks can be bailed out for something that was their own damn fault, then BA should also be bailed out for something they have no control over.
You really not only have to feel for BA but also all the other airlines in a very bad financial situation.
Cough up the money HMG.
Sex God
It's not like it's their fault (unlike the banks). Some people have said that the airlines should just get up there and fly. In this situation they are truly between a rock and hard place.
There are rules about what you can do to aircraft and especially their engines. If a pilot believes he has flown through sand (sand storms are a real problem in some places) and things like this ash cloud, they would report it. In that case there may well be a requirement (as in 'do this or you don't fly until you do!') to at least inspect the engine. In severe cases that may well mean removing the engine from teh airframe and partially stripping it down to get at the bits insside they need to inspect.
When the BBC report that 'a flight happened and there were no ill-effects' all they are really saying is it didn't crash or stall. There could have been damage or build-up that must be dealt with but they wouldn't know until the had got into the engine and other external bits of the aircraft and had a good look.
There are rules about what you can do to aircraft and especially their engines. If a pilot believes he has flown through sand (sand storms are a real problem in some places) and things like this ash cloud, they would report it. In that case there may well be a requirement (as in 'do this or you don't fly until you do!') to at least inspect the engine. In severe cases that may well mean removing the engine from teh airframe and partially stripping it down to get at the bits insside they need to inspect.
When the BBC report that 'a flight happened and there were no ill-effects' all they are really saying is it didn't crash or stall. There could have been damage or build-up that must be dealt with but they wouldn't know until the had got into the engine and other external bits of the aircraft and had a good look.
All the airlines that have flown test flights, BA, KLM, Air France, Lufthansa and Air Berlin have had engineers crawling all over the planes after landing and have reported no problems.
What about tour operators and travel agents that have been similarly affected. Should they be compensated too?
What about tour operators and travel agents that have been similarly affected. Should they be compensated too?
Orgasminator
even if they insured will it pay out for an act of god?
If there is a gas leak in your high street tomorrow closing the local shops for a week or at the end of your road even, the shopkeepers won't get a penny off the government let alone for an act of god, then on the other hand British Airways employs thousands of people itself and is a big factor in the employment of others working for different companies related to the industry (like engine parts, airport staff etc) so if they go tit's up the nation has problems, if we bail them out we have problems - it's a catch 22 boys n girls.
At least as people have said not self inflicted like Banks where the top brass caused the problems then got huge bonuses for being crap at thier jobs
At least as people have said not self inflicted like Banks where the top brass caused the problems then got huge bonuses for being crap at thier jobs
Master of Sex
Quote by sara2010
even if they insured will it pay out for an act of god?
you mean an act of nature?
These rights are established by the EU Directive on air passenger rights (Regulation 261/2004)
In respect of those rights, outlined by varca, Michael O'Leary was interviewed yesterday by Sky News and indicated his outrage at having to pay out such large sums to passengers who only had a very small ticket price in the first place. The "compensation" package in many cases being three or more times the cost of the ticket.
That can't be right surely, in a natural catastrophe scenario like this.
What makes it worse is that the European Commission absolved themselves of any liability for the decision making process (well, there's a surprise!) by announcing that it is for individual Member States to determine whether or not to close airspace.
Looks like this is going to rumble on for some time to come yet...
In respect of those rights, outlined by varca, Michael O'Leary was interviewed yesterday by Sky News and indicated his outrage at having to pay out such large sums to passengers who only had a very small ticket price in the first place. The "compensation" package in many cases being three or more times the cost of the ticket.
That can't be right surely, in a natural catastrophe scenario like this.
What makes it worse is that the European Commission absolved themselves of any liability for the decision making process (well, there's a surprise!) by announcing that it is for individual Member States to determine whether or not to close airspace.
Looks like this is going to rumble on for some time to come yet...
Quote by Ben_welshminx
We the taxpayer should buy them out if necessary if we are likely to make an investment return. I quite like this clause 4 by stealth thing.
But why just the airlines Ben? What about the travel companies who are suffering as well as hoteliers, restaurateurs and the like?
Bailing out the airlines would open all sorts of cans of worms.
Quote by varca
loads of stuff
I know we are a little off the original topic here but just wanted to answer some of your questions regarding BA fares.
BA could not afford to sell all it's seats for £16 and I'm a little sceptical of that figure as as the taxes alone are about £40 one way, £75 return. So maybe you are comparing a one way fare, excluding taxes against your (return?) fare, inclusive of taxes?
BA, along with all other scheduled airlines, have a mix of different classes on each flight and a myriad of different fares within those classes. The different fares have different rules attached to them and generally the most expensive are able to be changed for free and are fully refundable, whilst the cheapest are non changeable and non refundable. The fares in between usually have differing restrictions. Flexibility is very probably the reason that your company mandated that its employees travelled business class, as business meetings are frequently changed and/or cancelled.
I'm sure the travel manager would have taken into account the number of cancelled or rescheduled trips and the potential lost money in deciding that travellers opt for fares that offer full flexibility. Lounge access is just a "perk" of the fare.
Varca, there is no such thing as the cost of a "conventional flight" . There will be a few seats allocated at the lowest fare, a few more at the next level, then a few more at the next level and so on until you reach the highest fare. In fact these days it is much more sophisticated, as airlines continually review load factors of flights and apply "fluid pricing" on the remaining seats. The same rule of thumb however generally applies to scheduled airlines as does to no frills..ie the earlier one books, the cheaper the fare.
A quick this morning shows that the differential between lowest to highest fares on the London/Edinburgh route is about 6/7 times. BA will tell you that it is the business class fares that are subsidising the cheapest fares.
It's very difficult to talk about fares back in 2003 but at a guess I would say that the £16 was a special promotional fare. It's only in the past 18 months to 2 years that BA have introduced cheap one way fares and only then as a direct result of competition from no frills airlines. Prior to that, they were ludicrously expensive, both domestically and into Europe. As a result of these cheaper one way fares, most savy travel managers now allow spot buying on the day.
There must have been someone that was very efficient within your bank however as the reschedules/cancellations stats you quote are way below the industry norm.
A quick this morning shows that the differential between lowest to highest fares on the London/Edinburgh route is about 6/7 times. BA will tell you that it is the business class fares that are subsidising the cheapest fares.
It's very difficult to talk about fares back in 2003 but at a guess I would say that the £16 was a special promotional fare. It's only in the past 18 months to 2 years that BA have introduced cheap one way fares and only then as a direct result of competition from no frills airlines. Prior to that, they were ludicrously expensive, both domestically and into Europe. As a result of these cheaper one way fares, most savy travel managers now allow spot buying on the day.
There must have been someone that was very efficient within your bank however as the reschedules/cancellations stats you quote are way below the industry norm.
