BA toglie la First dai nuovi aerei in consegna

[rick@BCN]

Fino al 2008 volare a 5 stelle era uno status symbol: ora pochi possono permetterselo
Un sedile di prima occupa lo spazio di 7 di economica. E costa migliaia di euro in più

La crisi arriva anche ad alta quota
la British dice addio alla First class

Troppi posti vuoti e la compagnia elimina quelli più cari

di ETTORE LIVINI

LA RECESSIONE, dopo aver fatto tanti danni a terra, inizia a mordere anche nei cieli. E fa la sua prima vittima ad alta quota: le lussuose poltrone di "First class" a bordo degli aerei mondiali. Fino a un annetto fa, trovare un posto nella parte più "nobile" (e costosa) dei velivoli in servizio attivo a 11mila metri di altitudine era un'impresa quasi impossibile: l'economia girava a mille.

I supermanager in nota spese, gli oligarchi russi e i nuovi ricchi del globo pagavano senza batter ciglio migliaia di dollari per il privilegio - e lo status symbol - di poche ore di volo a cinque stelle. Oggi i tempi sono cambiati: le borse sono andate a picco, le aziende hanno ridotto all'osso le trasferte, i Paperoni hanno il fiato corto. E le cabine di prima e business si sono svuotate. Le entrate garantite dai biglietti "premium", come li chiamano gli esperti del settore, sono crollate del 40% da inizio anno. E le compagnie, giocoforza, hanno iniziato ad adeguarsi.

La British Airways, fresca di un bilancio in rosso per 375 milioni di sterline, è stata la più drastica. L'a. d.. Wille Walsh ha preso nei giorni scorsi carta e penna e ha scritto ad Airbus e Boeing con una semplice richiesta: "Per piacere, negli aerei in consegna quest'anno, eliminate la prima classe". Una decisione difficile, visto che il 50% delle entrate della società arriva proprio dai posti più costosi. Ma inevitabile, visto la picchiata (-17%) delle vendite di questo tipo di sistemazioni da gennaio.

La Qantas, che come molti dei big asiatici aveva ben il 40% dei sedili a bordo riservati a First class e business, ha deciso di rimettere mano alla conformazione delle cabine, tagliando le sistemazioni premium e aumentando la disponibilità in economica. Lo stesso hanno fatto Lufthansa - che ha aggiunto 22 posti a basso costo ai suoi Boeing 747 - United e Delta mentre la Singapore - un'altra delle regine dei voli di lusso - ha più semplicemente deciso di mettere a terra il 10% della sua flotta pur di non abbassare gli standard di servizio.

L'austerity nei cieli ha ragioni economiche facili da capire: una poltrona di prima classe - larga, comoda e capace di trasformarsi in un letto da mille e una notte - occupa lo stesso spazio di sette dei sedili (spesso un po' da fachiro) dell'economica. Un vantaggio quando - com'è successo fino a metà 2008 - si riusciva a venderla a prezzi 10-15 volte superiori ai posti low cost. Uno spreco memorabile oggi che la prima è un deserto ( - 19% i passeggeri da inizio anno malgrado il taglio medio del 16% dei prezzi) mentre l'economy (-6%) tiene, si fa per dire, decisamente meglio.

Cosa cambierà per i passeggeri? Difficile che la prima e la business spariscano del tutto. Anche perché rifare radicalmente l'interno degli aerei già esistenti è un lavoro troppo costoso per un settore che quest'anno, malgrado il crollo del greggio, è avviato a perdere quasi 5 miliardi di dollari. Più facile che si lavori sulle tariffe. Magari vendendo più biglietti in economica rispetto ai posti disponibili per poi promuovere in business o in prima - nei posti rimasti vuoti - una parte dei viaggiatori.

L'altra arma di marketing utilizzata in questo periodo di crisi dai vettori è la "premium economy". Poltroncine che offrono più spazio rispetto alle sistemazioni meno costose, un maggior numero di miglia per i programmi frequent flyer e qualcuno degli optional (alcolici gratuiti, pasti più ricchi) delle classi superiori. A un prezzo che è una via di mezzo tra i sedili meno costosi e le tariffe di business.

Siamo però nel campo della finanza creativa e dei tentativi più o meno maldestri di far fronte a una crisi peggiore di quella seguita alle Torri Gemelle. Gli utili nei cieli (e la Prima classe) torneranno davvero di moda solo quando davanti al Pil mondiale rispunterà il segno più.

La Repubblica 24 maggio 2009

 

[Cesare.Caldi]

Nel breve termine potrebbe essere una mossa giusta ma quando finirà la crisi rischia di avere effetti controproducenti...

 

[rick@BCN]

Notizia a dire il vero non confermata in altre testate, da domani proverò a indagare internamente ad Airbus.

Se così fosse la mossa non sarebbe sbagliata, visto che BA ha comunque 4 classi nei voli intercontinentali e l'offerta è già frammentata. Certo è che è un colpo all'immagine di BA!

 

[Mr.Mistral]

Notizia a dire il vero non confermata in altre testate, da domani proverò a indagare internamente ad Airbus.

Se così fosse la mossa non sarebbe sbagliata, visto che BA ha comunque 4 classi nei voli intercontinentali e l'offerta è già frammentata. Certo è che è un colpo all'immagine di BA!

Effetto della "sboronata" di aver preso il 380??

Il 380 è sicuramente una bella macchina, ma è il Cayenne dei cieli! Lo compri per fare vedere che in un periodo d' imcertezza ti puoi permettere di avere una macchina che non è più in linea con il tipo di domanda (e pare avere anche alcuni problemucci).

Da anni la richiesta sul lungo raggio è di più voli nella giornata, non di più poltrone su di un unico volo. Io voglio poter partire da LHR per JFK (od EWR) scegliendo tra 3 - 4 orari in base alle mie esigenze e BA è sempre stata una delle poche ad avere anche 4 JFK al giorno a coprire quasi tutta la giornata "businnes". E' noto che i grossi guadagni sul lungo compagnie come BA li ottengono proprio dalla clientela businnes e non leisure.

Non mi dite che con il 380 rimarranno invariate le frequenze, perchè non ci credo!

My two cents, ovviamente!

Andrea

 

[janmnastami]

Sinceramente, non credo che sia una notizia vera o comunque è una cosa momentanea. BA sta pure facendo la nuova First (sono state pure pubblicate delle foto); inoltre, ha sempre avuto un'immagine da vettore premium, quindi si farebbe del male da sola.

 

[Eliogabalo]

Effetto della "sboronata" di aver preso il 380??

Il 380 è sicuramente una bella macchina, ma è il Cayenne dei cieli! Lo compri per fare vedere che in un periodo d' imcertezza ti puoi permettere di avere una macchina che non è più in linea con il tipo di domanda (e pare avere anche alcuni problemucci).

Da anni la richiesta sul lungo raggio è di più voli nella giornata, non di più poltrone su di un unico volo. Io voglio poter partire da LHR per JFK (od EWR) scegliendo tra 3 - 4 orari in base alle mie esigenze e BA è sempre stata una delle poche ad avere anche 4 JFK al giorno a coprire quasi tutta la giornata "businnes". E' noto che i grossi guadagni sul lungo compagnie come BA li ottengono proprio dalla clientela businnes e non leisure.

Non mi dite che con il 380 rimarranno invariate le frequenze, perchè non ci credo!

My two cents, ovviamente!

Andrea

vorrai anche avere 12 aerei al giorno da poter scegliere per andare al JFK , ma non dipende da te il fatto che ci siano o meno
Se da domani BA ne mette 2 con degli aerei più grandi e più economici tu sceglierai uno dei 2 voli .
Non hai alternativa , non dipende da te .

quanto alla clientela business forse non ti sei accorto che i conference call transoceanici oramai sono all'ordine del giorno ed hanno eroso di parecchio questo mercato
aggiungici poi i mezzi di marketing più evoluti che obbligano sempre meno i viaggi per raggiungere le fiere del proprio settore sparse in giro per il mondo
infine la crisi generale

la frittata è fatta , il mercato si è ristretto e hai voglia ad aspettare che si riallarghi

 

[Cesare.Caldi]

Se da domani BA ne mette 2 con degli aerei più grandi e più economici tu sceglierai uno dei 2 voli . Non hai alternativa , non dipende da te .

No, posso sempre scegliere un altra compagnia...

 

[Eliogabalo]

No, posso sempre scegliere un altra compagnia...

non credo che a londra ci siano compagnie che abbiano più voli della BA

 

[Cesare.Caldi]

non credo che a londra ci siano compagnie che abbiano più voli della BA

Le principali destinazioni di lungo raggio sono coperte anche da altre compagnie a cominciare da Virgin Atlantic, se c'è una cosa che non manca a Londra sono i voli per tutto il mondo...

 

[rick@BCN]

Da un'intervista al mio capo

Effetto della "sboronata" di aver preso il 380??

Il 380 è sicuramente una bella macchina, ma è il Cayenne dei cieli! Lo compri per fare vedere che in un periodo d' imcertezza ti puoi permettere di avere una macchina che non è più in linea con il tipo di domanda (e pare avere anche alcuni problemucci).

Da anni la richiesta sul lungo raggio è di più voli nella giornata, non di più poltrone su di un unico volo. Io voglio poter partire da LHR per JFK (od EWR) scegliendo tra 3 - 4 orari in base alle mie esigenze e BA è sempre stata una delle poche ad avere anche 4 JFK al giorno a coprire quasi tutta la giornata "businnes". E' noto che i grossi guadagni sul lungo compagnie come BA li ottengono proprio dalla clientela businnes e non leisure.

Non mi dite che con il 380 rimarranno invariate le frequenze, perchè non ci credo!

My two cents, ovviamente!

Andrea

Airbus proclaims its A380 a success

Steve Creedy, Aviation writer

22 mai 2009

The Australian

2 - All-round First

AIRBUS says its flagship A380 is a success, as the superjumbo approaches the 50,000 revenue flight hour milestone.

Eighteen months after the A380's first commercial flight, between Singapore and Sydney, the European plane-maker now has 14 superjumbos operating around the world.
They have together clocked up more than 41,000 revenue flight hours and 4200 revenue flights, most of them long-haul flights involving high daily utilisation.
Its service experience with the three initial operators -- Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Emirates -- is almost eight times that of the Airbus test fleet, and the planes have carried more than 1.5 million passengers.

Airbus says it is pleased with the roll-out of the aircraft, despite some high-profile media coverage of some problems.

It claims operational reliability is better than other long-haul aircraft in their first year after entry into service, something it says is unprecedented for an all-new design.
But it has yet to publish reliability statistics backing up the claim, arguing the use of the plane on long-haul routes of up to 15 hours meant flight cycles are accumulating slowly.
The low number of flight cycles, it says, means there are still wild fluctuations when there is technical event.

"This is why we are not yet publishing the reliability figures for the A380,'' says Airbus director of A380 product marketing Richard Carcaillet told reporters in Hamburg last week.
"It would be misleading, statistically not meaningful, and it would be a bit unfair for the first three operators as well.''

Airbus expects trends to become clearer as the fleet builds up more cycles, but it is already refuting claims in some media of problems with the A380.

Carcaillet noted it was natural that there would be excitement and heated commentary about a new plane and people want to know what's going on with the A380. But the answer to that question, he says, is ``not much''.

"I've been nearly 20 years with Airbus and frankly I've not seen an entry into service like this. Never,'' he says. "Singapore said it's the best EIS they've ever had, of any aircraft. I think the publicity is just a consequence of the A380, like the 747 back in the 1970s, being something really different. People are watching and they're enthusiastic about it and we have to live with it.''

Carcaillet says that even the manufacturer is amazed that the first aircraft flew for three months with Singapore Airlines without a technical issue.
Asked about fuel problems that grounded two Qantas A380s simultaneously, he says he has not followed the investigation closely but he believes several hypotheses are still being examined.
One had to do with the storage of fuel in the wings and the other related to airport fuel storage, where fuel had not been removed from the bottom of tanks in previous years.
The theory is that the A380, which uploads large volumes of fuel, had caught something that had been sitting for some time in the tank.

He noted that no other aircraft in the fleets of the other two operators have had anything similar occur.

"We'll see,'' he says. "The investigating is ongoing and it's completely shared -- on the table -- with Qantas from our customer service people.''

Airbus is also pleased with the engines on the plane, Carcaillet says. He says there had been one issue on each engine, including an oil problem on the Rolls-Royce engines used by Qantas. But he says these were "minor items'' which were being ironed out.
"So there's one each, which is really good for brand new engines,'' he says.

Carcaillet also believes the A380 is living up to expectations in terms of performance.
Airbus says the A380 requires 17 per cent less runway than the Boeing 747-400 to take off and 11 per cent less to land.
It lays claim to a 4000ft higher initial cruise altitude, a 20 knot lower approach speed and 1100 nautical miles more range.

Tests by Airservices Australia show that the A380 is a quieter option for those living near flight paths -- more than 6db below a 747-400 on takeoff and up to 3.7db quieter on arrival.
The aircraft's roomy and significantly quieter cabin is also proving a hit with passengers and Airbus points to comments by operators that the aircraft continues to attract higher load factors.

On the important issue of operational economics, Airbus estimates that fuel burn per seat is 8 per cent less than the 747-8 intercontinental, 20 per cent less than the 747-400 and 10 per cent below the 777-300ER.

While these claims are always open to contention between manufacturers, Airbus says an analysis of Singapore Airlines flights between Singapore and London showed that replacing 21 weekly Boeing 747-400 flights with 14 A380s and seven 777-300ERs gave a 15 per cent lower fuel burn per seat with a 22 per cent increase in capacity. "That is fuel efficiency in action,'' Carcaillet says. "That is benefits to the bottom line; that is also benefits to the environment.''

(--> Quest'analisi l'ho fatta io!)

Another Airbus calculation based on Singapore Airlines operations to Paris shows that replacing a 278-seat 77-300ER operating 10 flights a week with a 471-seat 380 operating daily flights, gives a 20 per cent increase in capacity with a 3 per cent fall in operating costs.

Airbus calculates this translates into $US9.7 million worth of savings per year in operating costs and provides nearly 21,000 extra seats.
On the vexed question of the A380 being overweight -- a favourite topic of Emirates boss Tim Clark -- Carcaillet says Airbus is moving to claw back the "moderate overweight'' the plane had at entry into service in 2007.

He says this will allow the company to be more competitive in campaigns against the 747-8 by allowing it to offer 300 nautical miles extra range or a higher takeoff weight.
Despite the Airbus pride in its technologically advanced new baby, sales of the A380 have recently been slower than expected. It remains at 200 firm orders from 16 customers.
The manufacturer announced earlier this month it was reducing A380 deliveries, after airline demand for the big plane waned because of the global recession.

It said customer requests for aircraft deferrals had prompted it to change its delivery schedule to 14 planes this year, down from 18 originally planned.

Airlines are finding it harder to fill aircraft, as passenger numbers fall. Global traffic fell more than 11 per cent in March and the industry has been unsettled by the swine flu outbreak.
Airbus achieved its goal of handing over 12 A380s last year, including the first planes to Qantas. But the flying kangaroo announced last month that it had successfully negotiated to defer deliveries of four A380s for 10 to 12 months.

Cost overruns and penalties on the A380 have increased spending on the model's development to about $US18 billion, from the originally planned $US12 billion, after a two-year delay due to wiring and production problems.

Even so, Carcaillet believes the program will ultimately be profitable and will take the lion's share of another 400 very large planes existing customers are expected to order over the next two decades.

Steve Creedy travelled to Hamburg courtesy of Airbus

 

[maclover]

Riporto in alto questo thread per segnalare questa interessante intervista a Frank van der Post, Brand and Customer Experience Managing Director di British Airways.

Interessante il concetto di boutique hotel applicato al più grande aereo pax oggi in circolazione. Ammetto di essere molto curioso di provare il 380 e il 787 di BA

 

[iceman85]

Riporto in alto questo thread per segnalare questa interessante intervista a Frank van der Post, Brand and Customer Experience Managing Director di British Airways.

Interessante il concetto di boutique hotel applicato al più grande aereo pax oggi in circolazione. Ammetto di essere molto curioso di provare il 380 e il 787 di BA

anche io!! Bell'articolo!

 

[maclover]

Continuo su questo thread per riportare le dichiarazioni di ieri di Mr. Walsh

​

SPEECH BY WILLIE WALSH,
CHIEF EXECUTIVE, INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES GROUP

Annual General Meeting,
Thursday June 20, 2013

Good afternoon, ladies and gentleman

After establishing IAG in 2011, our second year has been one of transformation. Wefinalised our purchase of bmi and integrated it into British Airways, launched a cashtender offer for Vueling and made the first step towards restructuring Iberia.
FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
In 2012, we made an operating loss of €23 million before exceptional items based onrevenues of €18 billion, up 10.9 per cent. This was a solid performance consideringnot only the economic challenges facing our airlines and the industry but also thegroup’s transformation as it absorbed loss-making bmi and began to makenecessary changes at Iberia. There were a considerable amount of exceptionalitems in the year, mainly Iberia restructuring and impairment costs, which resulted inan operating loss of €613 million.
Yet again, there was a divergent performance from our airlines.
British Airways made an operating profit of €347 million, before exceptional items,which included €98 million of trading losses from bmi. London remains a strongmarket and British Airways has benefitted from the location of its hub with sustainedgrowth in premium traffic.

Iberia saw its losses deepen, reporting operating losses pre-exceptional items of€351 million. These results highlight the continued weakness in the Spanisheconomy and structural weakness within the airline and emphasised even furtherthat Iberia has to adapt to survive.

SYNERGIES
One of the many benefits of the merger is our ability to extract cost and revenuesynergies between IAG and our airlines. In 2012 we, yet again, comfortablyoutperformed our target achieving a total of €313 million in synergies. We evenraised our target from €225 million to €270 million in the middle of the year but astrong performance in the last quarter saw us beat this target comfortably, which isan extraordinary achievement.
We have performed well on both cost and revenue synergies but I particularly wantto highlight our revenue synergy achievements. It is much harder to achieve revenuesynergies on this scale compared to taking out costs, and these synergies result inreal tangible benefits for our customers which is very pleasing.

CONSOLIDATION - BMI
Last year saw us finalise one airline acquisition and start another one.
In April 2012, our purchase of bmi from Lufthansa was finalised and we began theprocess of integrating the airline into British Airways which was completed later inthe year. The integration was carried out successfully by British Airways’management team who managed to do it quickly and smoothly while remaining focused on the airline’s own financial targets. Their next challenge is to turn formerbmi losses into profit while maximising value from the 42 daily Heathrow slots thatwe acquired as part of the deal.
The additional slots enable British Airways to manage its Heathrow slot portfoliomore effectively and tailor its route network to destinations that have emerged aseconomic powerhouses. Flights to Seoul started last December and services toChengdu in China will commence this September. About one third of the additionalslots will be used to launch new longhaul routes, mainly to Asia, while the remainderwill enable British Airways to re-enforce its shorthaul network.

CONSOLIDATION – VUELING
In November last year, we announced our plans to launch a cash tender offer for theBarcelona-based low cost airline Vueling.
Iberia owned 45.85 per cent of the airline already and its board agreed not to tendertheir shares so the offer was for the remaining shares. In April we announced that82.48 per cent of the remaining shareholders had accepted our offer of €9.25 pershare. This meant that 90.51 per cent of Vueling was owned by IAG group and theairline joined our business. Since then, the Vueling board has called a generalshareholders’ meeting, which will be held next week, to approve the delisting of theremaining Vueling shares from the Spanish stock markets. In parallel, IAG launcheda delisting tender offer for the remaining shares at a price of €9.25 per share.

Vueling is a key asset to IAG. It is an extremely successful airline which hasmanaged to expand its network profitably despite the challenges of the currenteconomic crisis in Spain. For Vueling there are benefits to being part of IAG as it willgain from the group’s financial strength.
Vueling will be a standalone business within IAG with its chief executive Alex Cruzreporting into me. We plan to retain the airline’s current business model andmanagement structure, as well as its strong base in Barcelona.

IBERIA RESTRUCTURING
Turning now to Iberia, last year we moved forward with our plans to stem thesignificant cash losses at Iberia, reduce its cost base and introduce permanentstructural change across the airline.
Iberia is facing huge challenges and must restructure if it is to survive. It reportedoperating losses of €351 million in 2012 - almost €1 million losses per day. Theairline has become unprofitable in all its markets – including longhaul – and its highcost base means it is unable to compete effectively with other airlines, bothEuropean and Latin American.
There are many good people at Iberia and we know that change is hard, especiallyin the current economic environment, but I cannot stress strongly enough that thesituation is critical and none of us want to see Iberia disappear. However, that stillremains a risk unless all parts of the airline work together to transform Iberia. Oncethe airline has successfully restructured its cost base it will then be in a position to grow profitably in the future benefitting its customers, employees and shareholders –and giving Spain a thriving, profitable network airline.
Last November, Iberia introduced a comprehensive restructuring plan across theairline. After failure to reach agreement with the unions on these proposals by theend of January, it pressed ahead with a previously announced 15 per cent cut incapacity. This involved suspending loss making routes and frequencies and standingdown 25 aircraft.

Following the appointment of a mediator, Gregorio Tudela, both the IAG board andunions representing 93 per cent of Iberia employees signed an agreement which hehad proposed. We would like to thank Senor Tudela for his efforts in bring the partiesto an agreement. Under the agreement, 3300 people will leave Iberia, 80 per cent ofthem this year. In addition, a salary reduction of, on average, 11 per cent wasintroduced. This was followed by an additional four per cent salary reduction in Aprilas productivity talks between Iberia and the unions failed to reach agreement.
This is an important first step towards restructuring Iberia – but it is only a first stepand Iberia needs to do more. It is vital that everyone within the companyunderstands that they have to make sacrifices to help save Iberia, their jobs and thebenefits that the airline can bring to Spain, its economy and tourism industry.
Iberia’s subsidiary Iberia Express, which was launched in 2012, shows what can beachieved with an airline that has a lower cost base. The airline was profitable within three months, is flying to the highest industry standards and achieving excellent customer feedback. It has also created 500 new Spanish jobs. As you are probablyaware, this successful Spanish airline that is creating jobs is currently restricted fromgrowing further following the laudo ruling.
I am delighted that Luis Gallego who, as chief executive, was responsible forestablishing Iberia Express so successfully has moved to become Iberia’s chiefexecutive. Luis has worked in the aviation industry throughout his career and is anairline man through and through. I have every confidence that he will do all that hecan to restructure Iberia and lead the airline forward towards profitable growth.

BRITISH AIRWAYS PENSION DEFICIT
Finally, we are pleased that British Airways has reached an agreement in principlewith the trustees of its two main pension schemes about the schemes’ regulartriennial valuations. The agreement confirms that the existing contribution plansremain on track to repay the pension liabilities and that there is no change to thecontribution arrangements which were agreed in 2010. It also paves the way forBritish Airways to move to normal dividend payments over time.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, while there are financial challenges facing the group in the yearahead, we are laying strong foundations for future growth. British Airways will gainfull value from the bmi integration and its enhanced Heathrow slot portfolio, Iberia’srestructuring will continue and establish a framework for future profitable growth andwe will begin to reap the benefits from Vueling joining the group.

We remain confident that we can achieve our financial targets of €0.52 cents pershare and operating profits of €1.6 billion by 2015.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and efforts of our people acrossthe group which has enabled us to achieve so much in such a short period of time.
Thank you

 

[13900]

... E una minuscola % di quelle sinergie le ho raccolte io!

Comunque, si potrebbe cambiare il titolo del thread? Alla fin fine, da quell'articolo, non solo la First non è stata tolta ma è anzi stata introdotta la nuova Prime.