Airlines in a Crisis

SAS have abandoned their bases in 2 airports in Norway. One of them serves the county's 3 largest city Trondheim and the other serves the oil capital of Norway Stavanger. Since Norwegians are early risers there remains question over if there still will be first wave flights out of these airports. Low costs don't run first wave out of non base locations ince then they would have to overnight crew in hotels. That is one of the reasons Ryanair have(had) over 80 bases around Europe. A low cost principle is every crew home in own bed at night. Now SAS is what is called a network airline that offers a certain amount of service. However as such it is not a very profitable one. The argument is that crew from other bases can overnight in hotels for a first wave departure but this rises the cost considerably. Not only the accommodation and food costs but also the crew on the last flight in can't really fly the first flight out because their rest period will be to short. And if th...

According to frequent reports Ryanair has not managed to fit to CoVid19 their automatic seating algoritm that splits people on the same booking in the hope they will pay extra to sit together. This is a low even for Ryanair. They have in the last years upped their IT department with a factor of 10 and added dozens of programmers to have control over their systems. And still 6 months into a pandemic where every airline knows that only they on the same booking should sit together and everyone else should distance Ryanair management have not yet copped on. In addition at the same time they are seating non related and uknown people together it is reported they are laving some rows completely empty. Theis means they are not even trying to do anything to reduce contamination. It is time for some punishment and maybe the italians for once will be first already threatening a ban on Ryanair if they do not get their act together.

Hear again and again that if you want social distancing = middle seat free, then buy a first class ticket or more than 1 seat. Problem is there are no socially distancing first class on domestic and next to none on airtravel within Europe. And even if you buy the full 3 seats there are no guarantees that the airline won't fill the other 2 if only you shows up for departure. And social distancing should not cost double the price or more. At the most on a normal 3+3 row seat configuration it should be 50% more. It is this kind of naive thinking that is hindering airlines from taking potential passengers fear of CoVid19 seriously. And this fear affect halve of all thinking about flying during the pandemic. The airlines have built up so much capacity hey just can't survive on the 25% of us that don't care and will fly anyway. At the very least airlines should offer proper social distancing, aka middle seat free, as an option. It is time for them to wake up. They have jibbe...

Don't exactly know what degrees Boeing top management have but it don't seem to be psychology, or pr for that sake. They think the most important thing is to get the 737 ExMax past the FAA scrutiny. And for that they are playing the stubborness card. As little change as they can get away with for as cheap as is possible. And that means software only. Reprogramming is cheap but it doesn't really give the press anything to take a picture off. And a picture is worth a thousand words. It is not the FAA that is going to pay to be passengers on the plane. That is the general public and they go by what the press says. And since the press have been touting for many months now that the plane is unsafe and aerodynamically flawed, the potentially flying public is expecting something to be done about it. And noen of them have any real belief in safe software thanks to Microsoft's work during the past 2 decades. They know it is always flawed and full of bugs and need to be rectif...

Ryanair has done it again. Gone and dwcided that their hunt for profit is more important than peoples health and the world economy and taken the Irish government to court on a technicality in their handling of the CoVid19 pandemic emergency. It just show what type of selfcentered individuals runs Ryanair, and BA. They can really be compared with the landlords of old that sent their tenants away on coffin ships so they could exploit the land left behind for profit. Doesn't help that they try to pack it in with concerns about clarity or the freedom of the individual or as humanitarian and sympathetic. These are the same people that will only take pandemic precautions if it doesn't cost their own company anything. Others should provide the masks. Airports should do and pay for the temperature checks. Social distancing is to difficult a.s.o. And pushing the line that no advice is better than  unclear advice is just b****cks. Still waiting for what O'Leary's, and Wilson...

When it comes to utilizing the constantly changing nature of the CoVid19 crisis travel advices from diverce governments, startup airlines have a unique opportunity to take advantage. Where others are large and slow you will be small and flexible. As some pairings close others opens up. People are just booking short time out anyway so you don't have to publish a 6 month schedule. Many airlines take a week or 2 to react to government advisory changes. You should have it ready for booking by tomorrow. In addition most customer charter rules are temporarily suspended or not enforced so a 2 or even 1 week cancelling policy should be envoked. Cancel, refund and move your resources to a different route. As a new airline you are not lumbered with bookings done months ago that you want to fly to avoid refunding because you have spent the cash from them on paying for unused planes and other fixed costs.

It's not a crash / downturn / new normal for a business started now. They don't have a lot of parked planes they have to pay for or staff costs for people that have nothing to do, or now massively oversized other fixed costs for an airline 4 times what they are flying. Their start out cost base will be where other airlines are trying to get to through negotiating pay and lease reductions. And what for established airlines will just be a (partial) future return to normal will for them be a giant upswing. Add in a bit of what others can't do because it isn't like it used to be and you could be on to a winner. Something for CoVid19 times like optional social distancing through middle seat free. Flexible changes instead of outright refunds. Remember they don't have a massive presale either of seats that may or may not be taken up, so they should now that they who book now knows the pandemic story. New airlines now have a massive selection of used and new planes fro...

An unprecedented amount of planes having been stored for 3 or more months some wiht minimal serviceing, have led to issues coming to the fore as planes are being taken out of storae and put bsck into service. It could be a risky business at the beginning as new and earlier unforseeen problems are cropping up. The most is the air check valve which due to corrosion might stick in the open position resulting in compressor stalls, double engine failure and inability to restert either engine. Airlines might have been better circulating all their planes into service regularly, sample a different plane each day, than parking most and only actively utilizing the same select few, like Norwegian. Or at least flying the unused for passenger service planes regularly on small test, like Ryanair. Pennies (relatively) saved can quickly become dollars needed, or worse. There is a reason planes are stored long term in desert like conditions and not just on any airport that is cheap and have space....

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,...

The language in their lawsuit against Boeing in connection with their termination of the contracts for ExMax and Dreampliner deliveries is not sparing the expetives. A company in such a precarius position should be more careful when it comes to handling its in reality only supplier that it for a good while into the future still will be dependant on for the maintenance and value of its entire existing fleet. Could it be that top management of Norwegian do not really know what it entails to change from Boeing to Airbus, or the risk of going Chinese or Russian. After all they are lacking indepth airline experience between them, coming more from a finance and retail background. The pilot retraining and dual engineering maintenance and double parts storge costs alone would stop the company from being a Low Cost. And a Low Fares airline without corresponding Low Costs will be a loss making business no matter how many routes you cut or how much you shrink, or how many extra candybars you s...

Looks like Wizz is fighting Ryanair over the use of the name Buzz for its Ryanair Sun operations claiming Buzz is to similar to Wizz. I doubt this similarity is conincidental but it is really Wzz that is on the backfoot. 2003 was a busy year in the Low Fares business. In the beginning months of that year Ryanair purchased a 4 year old airline called Buzz from its previous owner KLM. In the autumn of that same year Wizz was incorporated. So an ailine with the name Buzz existed long before Wizz started. Doubt that Wizz's name choice was that coincidental and there is proably merit in that they think the names are alike. They probably came up with Wizz exactly because it sounded like the already established airline Buzz. That Ryanair after continuing flying under the name Buzz before they concentrated on the name Ryanair and later rested the name for a few years is not that relevant. They always sat on the rights for the opportune moment. It is simply a case of what goes around...

A single airline could completely dominate a reopened Rygge airport. Think all the slots just for itself with the whole airport designed around its own needs. Including passenger sluicing and offices. All available relatively reasonable since its closed at the moment with no reopening in site without an  anchor airline. It could certainly become a hub and an easy & smooth airport to connect through. We are thinking a transatlantic hub with incoming connections plus feeding and drawing from the Oslo east and Swedish market. Remember Oslo east is seen as the lesser part of Oslo with a lot of suburban somewhat high rise sprawl and even more OBOS. The last is the social way of financing your housing needs where only part of the loan is yours and part is a joint with the other apartment owners. This for they who don't have the financial strength to obtain the full mortgage themselves. Parking could be made much cheaper at Rygge than OSL where prices are on the expensive side and...

Now when we have argued that an airline should be based near an airport to not only remember what its all about but also have some commonality so that management can be closer to the action, and office space can be co-used with operational staff, where would Norwegian with time move to. We have already established that Oslo Fornebu closed years ago as an airport and since all the land is sold off for building offices and housing it is not coming back. This means that Norwegian's current office has become so city center near that its prime real estate, and in the expensive Oslo southwest as well so a quick property developer financed buy and flip makes sense, leaving money over for somewhere else. The most likely new location would be somewhere near the OSL Oslo Airport. That is after all Norwegian's main base, where they retracted to for the pandemic lockdown, and where their headoffice management and staff have to go anyway if they want to travel anywhere within its network...

How to set the pricing strategy for a profitable airline. You start with the costs. It is important to know both the set and variable costs for each leg (city pair) you would potentially fly.  Include everything like cost of plane, crew, maintenance, fuel and taxes. Plus an ad on for other costs like managment, admin and marketing. Hence lowering the costs is alpha and omega for creating a competititive airline that is also profitable. Ceate a pricing strategy fpr eah route that gives you a profit at 80% capacity, or lower if you think you can get away with it in the market. Create several steps in the pricing ladder so you have a low starting price for marketing purposes and the fuller the plane the more you get in. Now you have your base price model. Add on a percentage premium for more poular times of the week, or of the day, and if there are any events scheduled for that market. Add also on a percentage for any premium services you offer, example a 50% add on for middle s...

There are reports that some airlines have been light on aircraft maintenance during the CoVId19 lockdowns. This specially goes for they who have outsourced that maintenance and have done a light touch follow up. Since airfreight is still massively behind some airlines like, EasyJet, have found that parts are hard to come by now when everybody are ramping up their flying and all need the same parts at the same time. The situation isn't helped by that freight and especially airfreight is far behind normal operation. This has led to some airlines having to use their less fuel efficient planes insted of the newer and greener ones. Even if they have extras of the others in stock they just haven't been maintained to the standard required for an immediate return to service. Or even not so immediate since most airlines have had 2 to 3 weeks between announcing its uprated schedule to actually going live with it. It is ironic that planes can't get back in the air because planes ...

Its presentation to the annual general meeting today showed a future where it is planning to be an "enterprise within future mobility". Never mind whether that is planning to be "great", but few shareholders like to ambitious diversifications within an enterprise. Not only does it divert managments attention away from the core, but shareholders think they are the best judges of their investments and if they want to invest in other modes of transport they do that separately. Norwegian managments shorter timeframe plan is to be just a "good organisation within the aviation industry". Good means mediocre in this context. Nobody has an ambition of that. Best in its field and revolutionise is words more used in future plans about ambitions. This lack of airline focus shows also in the new organisational chart. Operations is twice removed from the CEO below not only a large stab and a separate airline chief but also a customer chief. Far from the Low Cost m...

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...

No matter how much blm flying to former colonies is still a stable revenue stream and among the most recession and CoVid19 proof among international passenger air-transport business you can do. The first to come back and get was flying between Portugal and its former colonies in South America. It actually hardly stopped. There are still a lot of connection between European states and their former colonies. And the later they where freed the more. It don't seem like resentment is the lingering frame of mind but more a continued sense of responsibility. Look at Britain and its consideration of offering immigration to all of its former colony Hong Kong residents. I mean the UK is keeping many of them in a continued cooperation arrangement even through sporting games. There seem to also be a certain amount of continuing business and trade between such constellations, resulting in non tourist traffic that are allowed also in a time of crisis. A lot of overseas students also travel t...

More of the fictive crew rental straw companies that Norwegian created are being declared bankrupt. Reasons given; client (= Norwegian) won't pay their bills. And this time it is really closing in on them being in their neighbouring countries Denmark and Sweden. This is going to end in tears. The management of Norwegian haven't solved neither the company finances nor its problems. They have just pushed them into the future. No other airline have tried to solve their CoVid19 problems by abandoning their legal responsibilities towards their employees. Whether they where hired directly or through fictive agencies. Fictive = the agency only supply staff to 1 company which is also the owner (or part owner) of said employment agency. Others have tried to abandoned their crew at other times. But those companies always had the financial strength to pay themselves out of trouble when it went legally tits up. Norwegian do not have the money to pay out if different countries start tak...

Looks like some airline systems are not suited to quick adjustments in the necessary flexibility of the schedule. As CoVid19 fears lightens the careful comeback steps of airlines are being overtaken by a surge in customer demands as a result of constant new re-openings of borders. Prices are going up without airlines responding quickly with additional flights. Sample the prices close in for the 1 hour Oslo to Copenhagen route lay above Euro 500.- It used to be in the 120.- range and have been sold as low as35.- Many airlines are used to a long time perspective looking at the forward bookings weeks and months in advance. That is no good in what is more like a suddenly emerging market. When customers in addition are vary about booking long in advance due to sudden and the airlines lack of immediate refunds for previous  flight cancellations, they therefore book only for next week or the week after. Then you need to add flights in that time perspective. It is not a difficult oper...

The first European airline to fail in the very beginning of CoVid19 was Connect Airways or FlyBe as most like to call it. Was that necessary. From a pure financial standpoint it certainly looked that way. Running constant losses and with owners tired of constantly refilling it with money. I say money because it wasn't really cash but more promises of such. As an airline it had some things going fore it. A good AOC for a multiple of types of aircraft that made it a vendor in a market of its own. Large enough but not a direct threat to the likes of easyJet and Ryanair. And for the network airlines it was more a supplier than a competitor. However for many years it had leaders and management that took it in to many directions spending money on costly rebranding and too many different types of aircrafts. Many thinks it would be better as a regional with the smallest of aircrafts but those kind of routes are better left to even smaller niche players. It could have carved out a mar...

Many politicians in charge around the world are showing signs of CoVid19 fatigue. The number of previously daily press conferences are dwindling. Figures for the new infections and deaths are no longer daily. Less happens during the weekend. And the press are following suit. No longer are updates headline or given the most prominent space on the frontpages. But is that enough to un-scare the populations of these countries. Make them believe the immediate danger is really over even though they for months have been touted that this will take years until either a vaccine is implemented or enough of us are immune. Neither of which have happened, anywhere. And still the numbers for infected and new deaths are going up reaching ever higher daily numbers. Even in countries/states whit increasing numbers there seems to be a reluctance against new lockdowns with politicians only heeding positive results, ignoring negative and now following in many cases constructed re-infect rate numbers with...

Constantly newer planes with better engines are not enough when one do both short haul and long haul and can't compete in the investments race. But Norwegian could become the most environmentally green combination airline by lightning the load and stuffing them in. If one think the smallest fuel burn per passenger kilometer lightning the seats are one way. Get writhe of the heavy business class seats and fill the plane with the lightest seats you can find. But something that still don't feel like church pews to sit on. And no business class means no extra heavy crockery or bottles of drink, or double set of trollies. The single class system would also add seats for 12 or more extra passengers in long haul meaning more heads to divide the fuel burn on. If you don't hand out newspapers and magazines you don't need seat pockets either. Away with them and even more weight saved, plus a bit of extra legroom or alternatively maybe even an extra row of seats. You are al...

Last years plan of decorating the edges of the accounts with removing a few new non profitable routes seems like the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig. Much more needs doing and I doubt the current management are the ones to do it, except for some financial tinkering. They certainly do not  seem to have the airline experience needed, or from the right airlines, to know what makes a Low Fares carrier a Low Cost. Neither do the new ones added to the management team recently, who have absolutely no airline experience whatsoever. Are they trying to make Norwegian into a shopping mall or think the website rather than actually flying passengers and stuff is what will make the company profitable. There are certainly many steps the airline can do to make it more like the model of the industry Southwest. Where the principle of Low Fares Low Cost was first modelled and who have been profitable in nearly all of the years since, with very little industrial strife to boot. Take the ...

In these CoVid19 times it is even more important to simplify the interior of your planes to create as few touch and other virus transfer points as possible. Norwegian still practices having a cloth piece where you lean your head on rather than just the leather seat. Leather is much easier to clean with disinfectant than cloth that ideally should be removed and washed after each flight, but ain't. They might look nice with the airline name on them but one would think that by the time the passengers find their seats they already know they are flying with Norwegian. The emergency procedures are still on a loose sheet, even if laminated. Sticking these permanently to the seatback in front removes the need of touching it. In all seat pockets is a contamination trap in these pandemic times. Away with them.  And while we are on the theme of seats. Leaning seatbacks. Away with them. They are an extra unnecessary cost and mostly a bone of contention that add very little to the comfort ...

Instead of cancelling Airbus order like Stelios requested easyJet is now deferring the deliveries of the order up to several years into the future. Is this a way of pandering to Stelios wishes without actually being seen to cave in since management did win the shareholder vote on the matter. After all it can't have been pleasant for the management of the airline to have to work against the wishes of a 33% owner. This way they could present it as a bit of a victory emphasizing the retention of the discounts obtained way back in 2013. A bit odd that an even better deal couldn't be obtained this time around but those might be reserved for they who can actually take deliveries of aircrafts now. Good thing also that the delay fit nicely with most airlines forecasts on when the world will return to more normal times. At least that is the timeframe they use when negotiating with staff on t&c conditions. However it is still against Stelios expressed opinion that 200 is the op...

Norwegian have tried to have a service level more like easyJet than Wizz, and that has not really worked out for them. Maybe they can never reach the really ULCC levels being based in a high cost country like Norway. But the loyalty from their core customer base is more based on regional belonging than a steadily eroding included service level through adapting the Ryanair way of everything is an additional extra. They should more try for bettering Ryanair by mimicking the early days of Ryanair when they where an ULCC Ultra Low Cost Carrier. There are definitely an alternative way forward for Norwegian with less frills freeing up many costs and more important removing distractions for the staff and management. Anything other than a single menu offering should sample be avoided. All cabin staff should serve the whole cabin that should be of a single type configuration even on long haul. Let other airlines take the premium segment and simplify the product offered. That would also give e...

Never mind what Ryanair states in their annual presentations about the cost and price differences of the market. These umbers are usually adjusted for a purpose and often do not reflect all of neither revenue streams nor costs. A quick calculation of the 2019 numbers gives: (All numbers in Euros and per passenger) Company  -  Costs  -  Average Ticket Price Ryanair:  -  51.5  -  59.4 Wizz:  -  60.5  -  69.0 easyJet:  -  70.0  -  74.0 Norwegian:  118.5  -  116.0 So even though Ryanair's comparisons have the right order they do understate what is their average price for a ticket. And the difference between that and Wizz's cost are not that much. If the last grew to what Stelios says is the ideal size of 200 planes they could very possibly fight very competitively with Ryanair on a cost basis, as long as they stick with the concept. Ryanair is upping there's with constantly adding addi...

What some fresh airline ceo's with no relevant airline background don't seem to get is that airplane seats are fresh produce. When the plane have taken off the unsold seats are no longer sellable so spoilt. Actually even 2 hours before it takes off. That is why hibernation is a bad solution for an airline. You can hibernate the planes, at a cost, but not the potential seat kilometers those planes could have produced. Every day you have a potential for selling so and so many seats based on your resources available and they largely need to be sold before the day begins. It's like preselling strawberries you haven't picked yet. Every day you know there will be so and so many to sell and by the end of the day they are spoilt and thrown out. Even though fruit and veg are easier because some can be sold on sale tomorrow and in worst case sold as animal feed thereafter. Seats not sold and routes not flown, and where the plane haven't been utilized elsewhere, have no valu...

The boardroom changes planned for Norwegian seems small compared to that the entire ownership structure have changed since the current board was chosen. Only 2 representatives from leasing companies that now owns a very large part of the airline. And only 1 other new board member. That is shockingly lazy work from the consultants hired in to assist in the process. But maybe not so unexpected since the same people where responsible for finding the new management just being put into action at the company. For an airline with only 8 planes flying they on the other hand certainly  have decided to reward the board handsomely for the coming year. One would hope the planned reduction from 3 to 2 weeks for notifications of emergency general meetings is a sign that other changes are planned in the near future by some of the soon to be elected members of either the board or the selection committee. Changes are needed, and quickly before the current management squanders on a hibernation ...

We find now a number of airline chiefs actively working against different governments regarding their CoVod19 prevention activities. Some even go so far as stating or encouraging that some rules like quarantines won't be followed. Today O'Leary of Ryanair is reported to have said that people can go ahead and book because the from today UK government policy of mandatory 14 day quarantine on return from abroad will be abandoned. Well we all knows what happens to money paid to Ryanair for travels one after all won't be able to perform. They are very difficult to get back within any sort of reasonable timeframe. Should these chiefs be free to sprout whatever they want with their considerable media power. There is a thin line between expressing ones personal opinion and suggesting that others to break the law. This is not really about free speech but about already wealthy people for personal financial gain encouraging others to behave illegally. Time for some fines or time b...

The Ryanair principle is all passengers are the same. However none of their basic principles seems so strong they can't be broken. Take the free seating. Fallen by the wayside. Single queueing always with families and they who needed help boarding first. Also gone. Anything to make an extra buck looks like their new way. Could this lead to a 2 or more class division of the cabin. After all full service airlines saw it as a cheap way of charging twice as much, or more, for the tickets. But when does it then stop to be a Low Cost and just becomes another full service with slightly lower fares. Norwegian is running a 2 class principle with more spacious seating in its premium cabin. But then it is more a Low Fare than a fully Low Cost competitor. Yes is tempting for those quite a few extra quid some are willing to pay for a little more be it space, food or service. But how much does it cost to have 2 sets of cabin standards, 2 types of meals and, 2 types of queues. And how distract...

Most startups place their HQ at or near their main airport to keep a close eye on operations. It can also give combined advantages. Sample the DUB based flight crews used to meet up at the Ryanair hq and transport in a van directly to the planes, needing no extra office space within the terminal. Ryanair management used to walk or drive up to the airport complex frequently and many of their top management where known to be very hands on. Sample during the baggage handler strike of 98 they where all handling suitcases. In fact every male employee in the White House (nick name for then Ryanair HQ) was. And most of hq staff had airport airside passes hither and tither. Even after the move to larger premises the DUB airport main terminal is less than a 5 minute drive away. Airlines like Norwegian on the other hand seem to have missed that the Oslo airport have moved from Fornebu to Gardermoen at the opposit end of the city. Not only that but they are paying rent at what is rumoured to g...

Norwegian came out with its may figures today. The only numbers was total flown in May and how many seat kilometers had been offered. That is like comparing grapes and melons. Airlines have somthing to learn from Trump. Instead of focusing on the total number of unemployed in todays press conference he was all about how many had gone back to work. That is a positive number and was taken positively by the stock market. Airlines should do something similar and get used to that this year is different. I'm sure in Europe May's numbers would have compared favourably with April and that is what should have been emphasised. How many more passengers in May than April. How was the load factor on the planes that did fly. How was the payment willingness among they who do fly. How many planes in use compared to total fleet and add to that the percentage number of earlier total staff brought back and what the production was in the same period last year to see the theoretical potential....

The Ryanair costbase have in the later years been steadily creeping upwards as they have added frills and abandoned smaller airports for more mainstream ones only sometimes closer to city centers. Yes they have charged extra for the extras but it have let an airline like Wizz creep up under its radar and end up with a lower costs per passenger, according to Ryanair's own presentations. Is a perceived segment of potential customers, the business traveller, worth going after so much you'd give up the single most important competitive advantage you have had within the industry for years. The one that let you gain market share and dominance by your most important marketing tool, lower prices than everybody else. Wizz abandoned Frankfurt when the initial discounted deal on airport fees ran out. Ryanair have moved their flights from nearby Hahn and have stayed put even when costs went up. Maybe the need for deeply discounted prices to entice people back into the air will require ...

Where airlines like Ryanair could really muddle the waters are if they used the extra capacity of the ExMax over the NG to offer social distancing through middle seat free. The way to sell the ExMax to a flying public that don't care how much it saves the company money or if it is marginally more environementally friendly, is by offering something on it that matters for them and that other planes don't have. An ExMax-10 have about 54 extra seats more than an NG. If sold to the capacity of an NG that would give 27 rows of middle seats free for CoVid19 nervous fliers. Distancing sold as an extra only on ExMAx would really give potential passengers something to think about. All depending on Boeing getting approval for the thing before the pandemic is over by everbody having it or a vaccine is found and distributed.

With the rule that the virus lives hours on the skin, days on cloth and a week or so on hard surfaces, I don't follow this obsession of cleaning planes, or even business premises, that no customer or staff have been in for weeks or months. It seems like cleaning have become the back to use virus mantra without rational thought for when and where it is needed. Dust yes, but just parking things for a couple of weeks is the ideal way of disinfecting it from viruses. With cleaning by hand it is more likely the cleaner bring new virus on board than that any have survived the last month. Bacteria is a different story. But then we are back to normal cleaning routines and not obsessive CoVid19 ones. And btw a simple cloth with a bit of disinfectant is not enough for a whole plane, or a store, or a hairdresser. After a certain point you are just smearing things around.

An airline with less than 100 planes in their fleet are at constant risk of being taken over. A tempting proposal for shareholders knowing the risks associated with airline stocks and therefor suceptible to larger airlines wanting to quell sudden upstarts. More than 200 planes and you are becoming a real threat and can no longer hide your size. Unions beome focused and all of a sudden you are coming to the top of size statistics and a sharpened view from the established. Around 200 you are to large for a swept under the carpet buy out and can continue to play the I'm still catching up game without another airline going after every route you try. You are also still a manageable size where a small top managmenet team can have full control on all aspects and a CEO can get into the details and reach out to everyone where necessary. Ryanair have certainly not succeded profit wise with their expnsion. Their profit at 400 was hardly 20% more than when they had 200 planes. And in the m...

Maybe their towels was left on a sunbed somewhere.  Lufthansa have been negotiating with the German government for a multi billion euro package. Howeber german pride within the company have topped them from actuallya ccepting the money offered. For the first they don't want to give up slots iin the german airports they hold a stranglehold on. For the second they don't want civil cervants or even worse politicians keeping an eye on how they run things, or god forbid how large a new Mercedes top managmenet changes to every year. Pehaps it shouldn't have been so surprising, at least for they who knew luftie couldn't make money on transporting tourists. Well according to some insider commentators that is. But are instead depending on they who don't pay for the ticket themselves, and hopefully are not looking at the costs. That in a downturn is a castle built on sand.  Letting foreign Low Costs in and showing the natives how little they really could get away with pay...

Even i a downturn, or a crisis, airlines need to keep looking and preparing for opportunities. An old saying is saving until bust, meaning keeps on saving and shrinking until there is nothing left. In these time airlines like Norwegian should instead of going into complete hibernation mode be constantly looking for opportunities. If pairs of countries open up for travelers from 14 days in the future they should schedule flights between these pairs today and sell them from tomorrow. Specially since all new(ish) routes need to be advertised and sold beforehand to build up a certain load factor even on opening day. Airlines should start by looking at all historical pairings they flew. Even if you home primary country is still restrictive don't mean that other scandinavian, european or world contries are. One should also be looking at expanding and capturing new marketshares from airlines that are more slow movers. Every crisis bring opportunities for they with the wherewithal and ...

Airlines will hve to negotiate with insurance companies to come up with a soulution for that most travel insurances have been suspendd for the time being. If a solution could be found for that insurances sold with an airline ticket could have a certain minimum of cover also during these pandemic times, a lot more potential passenger would be reassured that they wouldn't just be abandoned to their own fate in some foreign country. This would of course include that airlines commit to arrange rescue flights if travel restictions will again be increased while people are away on a holliday. And that at a ticket price not overly goughing. Countries like Cyprus have shown the way forward by guaranteeing that a certain minimum amount of care will be given also to foreign CoVid19 patiens. Only if the different sectors within the travel industry come together with solutions and agreed on sharing the burdon can customers be entized back in numbers that will make things commecially viable...

Specially Low Fares airlins without distinctly different seat configurations for where passengers can choose to pay more for a more separate seatig arrangements, should at this time consider to give ereryone an option to increase the amount of potential customers. Some have suggested to call the Couldn't Care Less class (CCLc) the CoVid19 class but that could give the wrong associations and suggest the airline actually accept infected people on board. Something that should of course be avoided with all possible measures. Sanitized class (Sc) would have middle seat free and cleaning would be done between each flight. Cleaning would include wiping down all touch surfaces like armrests, tray tables, seat backs and similar, including anything you are likely to touch when boarding and disembarking. In additional each passenger should be supplied with packed sanitizing napkins if they want to do additional wipe downs themselves. They would also board from the front. and their toilets ...

For the time being roster the same crews together to avoid the risk of many sets of crew being infected and out of action. The risk of an asymptomatic crew member becoming a superspreader wandering from plane to plane and infecting a large number of crews should be tken seriously. These asymptomatic superspreaders do not show any sign that would let you stop them coming to work. No temperature and no constant coughs. They are still harbouring the virus and can spread it simply by talking. Or by hand transfer and that would not be stopped by mask wearing. Many crew are young and this increases the percentage of individuals that when infected will be asymptomatic. In addition the hunt for costs among airlines have resulted in a lower than average availability of sick benefits and paid days off, leading to many crew going to work even if feeling slightly under the weather. Actually this behaviour is encouraged by many airlines. You might have many additional crews at this time that...

It is disapointing that Norwegian as one of only a few airlines in the world have not made a success of flying cargo with the 787. In these CoVid19 times the demand for cargo flights have been immense and many airlines with belly holds capable of taking air containers have been grabbing the chance to get some hard needed cash into the business. Some have even manually loaded cargo in the seats or temporarily taken the seats out for easier loading of both bagged and palletized cargo. All loaded through the normal aircraft doors. Why not Norwegian. It is not like Norway or the other places it used to fly to and between don't have airfreight needs. All we hear from the company is they can't do it profitably. Have the way they layed off people made it to difficult or expensive to take some back for possibilities. Including also constantly new openings for passenger flights. Is their cargo department to unimaginative when it comes to spotting, utilizing and negotiating deals th...

Norwegian came out with its plan to serve the norwegian market with norwegian package hollidays at the same day as the government opened up for travel within the Nordic countries. Only work related for now but this government have proved so wobbly when it comes to standing by its decisions that anything could happen. actually most countries governments have in this crisis proved that any reopening schedule tends to be fast forwarded as the lightest political pressure appear from all sorts of groups. This means an airline like Norwegian that have and still should serve an international market need to be planning far ahead to take advantage of all planned opening dates for borders and relaxation dates for quarantines. In addition to having contingency plans for when these move forward. As they also should have plans for if they get more restrictive again. If something is announced by any of the countries they could fly to Norwegian as an airline should within hours come up with a pla...

He was on a loose footing during the crew strikes last year when his own milking of the company, shortly after getting his crews agreeing to personal cuts, came to the fore. Now it is clear he neither built up enough buffers in the good years or took action fast enough when the millions started running out seriously much faster than they where coming in. How do you manage to loose all your shareholder funds in a quarter where the pandemic for the  mostly was somewhat absent and only did real damage in the last 2-3 weeks. Qustions need to be asked whether loosing all the funds during the winter and then reestablishing them during the summer has been a regulaire thrait over the years. In that case somebody have been compensated way to well, including the CEO himself. Not at all according to the comapany's real overall results. In general the pandemic learns us that top managment compensations need to be even less concentrated on short term quarterly and yearly goals, and much mo...

Or is it hibernation for the year. They refused to hold a press conference when the first quarter results came out and issued just a written statement. There where no new plans for this year at a time when other airlines left, right and center come up with their back to business plans from June/July. Instead just what had happened from January to March, so pretty much pre CoVid19. A company like Norwegian should squander no time or opportunity getting a momentum going by presenting a basic timeline for coming back from the nearly dead. It can always be adjusted as more countries opens up, or closes down again, but get something up there you can sell and get those prepayments in. Something that will make the lease holder share owners happy that there is lights not only at the end of the tunnel but also in it. And a chance for some early payback also for the power by the hour deal. Not to mention that any positive news on more planes in the air can only lead to a real upswing in the s...

Scandinavian Airline Systems divulged today that its its share owner value at the end of the quarter were -65 million Skr and the company is technically bust. That explains why it didn't take up the loan offer from the Norwegian government that demanded a ownership ratio of 8%.The swedish and danish loans can then neither been seen as normal business loans since they where given to a company with in reality no share holder funds whatsoever. 65 million Skr might not be such a large sum for an airline, but normally one would adjust sample the Goodwill account to see too that one at least was on the postive side with shareholder funds. Have the company maximized the crisis for the purpose of gaining political momentum for their bailouts, to such an extent they are in legally murky waters. Even though they are going for a crisis issue of new shares it doesn't change the fact that in the meantime the company is being run for the creditors money. Is this the new normal. As long ...