Airlines in a Crisis

 And with taking on I don't mean competing against them but rather swallowing the juicy parts of it. What do Norwegian have that could be attractive to Ryanair:  It has a loyal following in Norway and parts of Scandinavia . A following that want Low Fares but loats Ryanair. It has a well established net of routes within Scandinavia and domestically within Norway that Ryanair would have a problem copying without diluting its own union stance and cost base. It is positioned at the more premium part of Low Fares with a less agitating policy against customers. This could be expanded upon incorporating some more Low Cost basics for profitability. And without messing up the Ryanair image anc cost base like its own Always Getting Better efforts have done to the bottom line lately. It has a Transatlantic/Transcontinental fleet and a worked up net of routes and we all know how O'Leary have long wanted to somehow do Transatlantic Low Cost. A part that could be split out from Norwegian S...

This time it is an originally military airport Ryanair launched as a Low Fares hub for germans. For Hahn read Frankfurt as Ryanair has advertised it as since they forst started flying to Germany and it was their main foothold in the country. Ryanair is so focused on their crew and airport negotiations that they abandon bases and airports rather frequently. Including markets they have built up over years. Ths may be part of their move up the service ladders and into more established airport that is seen as the city's main place to fly to/from. Regardless of if its closer or further from the city. Advantage for newcomers is that these airports will now be in shock and receptable for any offer probably even low balls like they Ryanair first came with when they moved in all those years ago. After all most of them are pivately owned and open to negotiations. You don't either have to spend your own advertising money on explaining how they really are an airport of whatever ciety,...

This is what happens when an international airline get a top chief that have no experience from managing an airline. No experience from any other parts than a bit of consulting. Just thinks its about selling a ticket plus whatever extra you can add onto the purchase. You don't make a Low Fares airline by lowering prices. You make the basis for it by keeping your costs low. And a key part of that is the single type of plane. But you need to spend time in engineering and ops to understand why that is so important. Just 1 set of spares and 1 type of engineer for all the planes, just 1 type of pilot so you don't have to double up on simulators and standbys, and the ability to swap any plane in on any route depending on what is available on the day. Did the company bosses visit other airlines that has done before the type of company they wanted to be. O'Leary of Ryanair did do a study visit to Southwest before forming his vision.  If you want to play with the big boys and sou...

Over time Norwegian should be split in 2 units under an umbrella managments to purify the single aircraft type principe of a true Low Cost airline. There can be no profitable Low Fares without Low Costs. The short haul (NSH) 737 part should concentratte on servinf te scandi/nordic market where it can capitalize on its namerecognition and customer belongingness. with additional routes from there to sun destinations and other Norwegian long haul hubs. The long haul (NSL) 787 part should be based elshewhere like Dublin or London Gatwick. Together with overall management of both companies. From here it would become the only really independent Low Fares intercontinental airline. All others are just offspring of full service airlines where the core of the company are not really in it 100%. Both parts should initially during the pandemic offer a Sanitized class and a Couldn't Care Less class (see other post) to appeal to the broadest market and get more flying. As time goes on they ...

Take the analogy of going for a walk and you meet people that don't care about social distancing. You just know that if they are careless when you meet them they will be just as careless in other aspects of dealing with the spread.  Always choose a route where you are the one that controls the distance. Always choose an airline that has taken more precautions than the absolute minimum that won't cost them much. Smart travellers will make up their mind about what amount of precautions is necessary and will choose an airline that supplys them. However I'm not saying an airline, even a low fares one, couldn't cater for both. Instead of a class divider curtain they could have a CoVid19 precaution divider curtain. In front you get free middle seats, cleaning of toilets between each customer and cleaning of cabin between each flight. Behind, for a bit less money, you get nightly cleaning and shared armrests.