Starting an airline, anyone want in?

samuel5

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Apr 25, 2010
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Hi all

I think now is the best time to start an airline, should be able to pick up a small fleet of planes at a good discount.
We can fill the slots that BA and Virgin are dropping.

Who's in and where do we start?

Sam
 
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Hi all

I think now is the best time to start an airline, should be able to pick up a small fleet of planes at a good discount.
We can fill the slots that BA and Virgin are dropping.

Who's in and where do we start?

Sam

You start with a big fortune

And end with a small one

Ignoring the financial and operational enormity; you really need to be asking why Virgin & BA are pulling out of Gatwick and radically downizing (in fairness, part of the reason for BA is that they are still stuggling with over-unionised public sector contracts)

The future of air travel is - excuse the pun - very much up in the air.
 
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You start outside the UK and find a hub that is efficient and can deal with expansion. Schiphol would be my choice. Six runways, really efficient operation and reasonable landing fees (for environmentally friendly craft) and a kewl city.

The penalties for running older aircraft will only escalate - so all those old, dirty, inefficient and noisy things that are about to come onto the market will end up being scrapped.

Commercial aviation will only return to profitability when it becomes comfortable, quiet and convenient. Until then, keep your powder dry and go and find something else to lose money with!

What you will see is a rise in general aviation. Go to the GA building at pretty much any airport and you can walk straight onto your plane. No body-searches by members of the EDL, no sitting on your luggage because some idiots in France want more money - even when you are not even going to France, no being herded like cattle and no sitting in cramped cabins for hours on end - an experience for which a special forces training in 'intensive questioning' is the only real preparation.

There is of course still a slightly different price structure!
 
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sarky

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Jul 7, 2010
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Hi all

I think now is the best time to start an airline, should be able to pick up a small fleet of planes at a good discount.
We can fill the slots that BA and Virgin are dropping.

Who's in and where do we start?

Sam
I SHALL BE COMING TO YOUR COUNTRY FOR AN OFFICIAL MEETING WITH YOU ON TUESDAY AND I WILL BE BRINGING FUNDS OF $3.5M TO INVEST IN YOUR NEW VENTURE.

YOUR PACKAGE($3.5M) MUST BE REGISTERED AS AN AMBASSADORIAL PACKAGE FOR ME TO DEFEAT ALL ODDS AND THE COST OF REGISTERING IT IS $120.THE FEE MUST BE PAID IN THE NEXT 50 HOURS VIA WESTERN UNION SO THAT ALL NECCESSARY ARRANGEMENT CAN BE MADE BEFORE TIME WILL BE AGAINST US

SEND THE FEE VIA MONEY GRAM OR WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER.

THANK YOU.
 
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CVRO

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Mar 25, 2007
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Hi all

I think now is the best time to start an airline, should be able to pick up a small fleet of planes at a good discount.
We can fill the slots that BA and Virgin are dropping.

Who's in and where do we start?

Sam

Airlines rely on financing, so unless you can put up the whole amount necessary, I just cannot see where you will get the money from.
Warren Buffett is unlikely to be willing to help as he has just sold, at a significant loss if the press is to be believed, all his airlines shares.
 
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fisicx

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Sep 12, 2006
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Many of those grounded aircraft will be leased. And they will all be overdue maintenance. Which means a multimillion bill before you even decide what to call your airline.
 
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D

Deleted member 59730

Airlines rely on financing, so unless you can put up the whole amount necessary, I just cannot see where you will get the money from.
Yes, they rely on financing so it costs them nothing to start. You don't need money for the planes you need it for the advertising. 6 months advertising for flights starting in 6 months time gives you 6 months of revenue. There will be loads of planes for hire and crews too from the day you launch.
 
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Clinton

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    Hi all

    I think now is the best time to start an airline, should be able to pick up a small fleet of planes at a good discount.
    We can fill the slots that BA and Virgin are dropping.

    Who's in and where do we start?

    Sam
    You're probably joking but if you, or anyone else, is a serious contender, connect with me in LinkedIn, let me check you out and I'll introduce you to a chap called Oleg who is working on this and who's picked up some B787s. Funnily enough, his choice is the Schiphol that @The Byre mentions.
     
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    CVRO

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    Yes, they rely on financing so it costs them nothing to start. You don't need money for the planes you need it for the advertising. 6 months advertising for flights starting in 6 months time gives you 6 months of revenue. There will be loads of planes for hire and crews too from the day you launch.

    That assumes they would find the financing...
     
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    JEREMY HAWKE

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    Jeremy Hawke is a dab hand with a spanner so he can look after the maintenance

    I'm in and I am very hands on I have a small work shop and a code reader
    I understand a fuselage can suffer from fatigue over a period of time but if you spray it with WD40 it should be fine if there is time I might brush on used engine oil
     
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    I'm in and I am very hands on I have a small work shop and a code reader
    I understand a fuselage can suffer from fatigue over a period of time but if you spray it with WD40 it should be fine if there is time I might brush on used engine oil

    you jest, but in my student days I got an agency job paint stripping Dan Air aircraft. Safety equipment was a pair of goggles and Marigold gloves. Operational equipment was a bucket full of paint stripper.
     
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    JEREMY HAWKE

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    I’ve got a wedding in Australia in October.

    Send me your schedule when you get up and running.

    Can we assume there will be a discount for ukbusinessforum members?

    Dunkeswell Airdrome Devon to New York

    No sorry , sorry !Not New York to Newark
     
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    JEREMY HAWKE

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    This is a right cowboy idea It reminds of when Denzil Penberthy went into competion with Red Adair with a Land Rover and some lads on the dole in Cambourne :)
     
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    JEREMY HAWKE

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    You should know the spelling of Camborne!

    I once came across someone called Denzil Penberthy for real. It was in Zimbabwe and he had never heard of the fictitious one.

    I don't believe that you met him :)
    He is real and he has worked all over the world places like Truro , Plymouth Barnstaple and even Shepton Mallet
     
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    CVRO

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    Branson did and started with 2 borrowed planes from Air Canada.
    At that point, he had already been successful with Virgin Records and owned Necker Island. That was also over 35 years ago.
    I'm not saying the OP cannot pull it of or does not have the skills and experience. I'm just doubting the timing given that airline companies are bleeding money and there's very little demand at the moment.
    Cargo is doing very well but passenger numbers are unlikely to recover in the short term.
    So, starting now may mean very little competition but it will also require deep pockets to keep it going and I have a hard time believing somebody who approaches a public forum to find investors will have the required capital to take it off the ground successfully.
     
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    ecommerce84

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    Thoroughly whoooshed.


    Welcome to the newly established Whoosh Airways!

    We all know the hardest part of setting up a new business is finding a decent name.

    Now with Gordon’s naming revelation we have done the hard part and it’s an easy run from here.

    It’ll be a quiet day on UKBF when the inaugural flight takes off :D
     
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    MBE2017

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    Why not save some expense, and use those aircraft to transport people, without taking off the ground. It would take longer, but fewer overheads, no qualified pilots high salaries etc. Remove the wings and stick a huge engine inside the rear instead.

    You could call it coach class travel.
     
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    Clinton

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    Why not save some expense, and use those aircraft to transport people, without taking off the ground. It would take longer, but fewer overheads, no qualified pilots high salaries etc. Remove the wings and stick a huge engine inside the rear instead.

    You could call it coach class travel.

    Coaches used to be vehicles that transported people.

    Now coaches are people who tell you how to run your business, how to organise your wardrobe, how to live your life, how to brush your teeth.
     
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