27th February Big Qantas announcement

[markis10]

a343 < a333?

Their A340s have a 22-23% seat advantage. Those figures are on the basis of per seat, whether you fill those seats has a bearing on the economics.

 

[codash1099]

These two red-tailed A380s looked great parked at LHR the other day - would hate to see them go!

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Those beasts sitting on the ground at LHR all day (and more doing the same thing at LAX) can't be helping QF's costs. That's pretty poor capital utilisation.

(I have no idea what else they could do with them)

 

[Programme]

Those beasts sitting on the ground at LHR all day (and more doing the same thing at LAX) can't be helping QF's costs. That's pretty poor capital utilisation.

(I have no idea what else they could do with them)

The ones that would be sitting at LAX could keep going to LHR. It's 2000mi further than the other way around, so greater operating costs but lower capital cost due to greater utilisation. Without firm numbers there is no way of knowing if it would work out better, but compared to new and expensive planes having high capital costs sitting around doing nothing, it might work. Well, if QF could convince people to transit at LAX!

 

[dajop]

Those beasts sitting on the ground at LHR all day (and more doing the same thing at LAX) can't be helping QF's costs. That's pretty poor capital utilisation.

(I have no idea what else they could do with them)

Yeh, once when they had 4xdaily into LHR, IIRC they would turn around the morning arrivals to be early afternoon departures and the afternoon arrivals made the evening departures. A big advantage of the ME and Asian carriers is that they, in the main, turn the planes around straight away in LHR and Europe.

Trouble with LAX, where else is there to go? JFK and other US destinations have cabotage restrictions, sothe only vaguely feasible destination would be YYZ - but even with rights to sell LAX-YYZ and vv. it's probably too many seats for demand.

 

[Mattg]

Those beasts sitting on the ground at LHR all day (and more doing the same thing at LAX) can't be helping QF's costs. That's pretty poor capital utilisation.

(I have no idea what else they could do with them)

I did come up with a solution a little while back, and worked out that by making QF1/9 evening departures/lunchtime arrivals, and by making QF12 a daytime flight (the rest of the Aus-LAX flights could remain unchanged), QF could cut a day of ground time in each cycle and add another A380 route utilising the existing fleet. (If you want more details about how this could work I would be happy to share them.)

 

[hutch]

I did come up with a solution a little while back, and worked out that by making QF1/9 evening departures/lunchtime arrivals, and by making QF12 a daytime flight (the rest of the Aus-LAX flights could remain unchanged), QF could cut a day of ground time in each cycle and add another A380 route utilising the existing fleet. (If you want more details about how this could work I would be happy to share them.)

Whilst re-timing DXB/LHR flights could work (and hence reduce some downtime), I dont believe re-timing LAX flights will. Firstly, assuming QF12 becomes a day departure, it would have to leave in early morning and this eliminates connections & feed at LAX. Secondly, off my mental calculations, it would have reduced connections in SYD - If it left LAX at 9:30am (which means it would need to take QF107 SYD departure time), it would probably get into Sydney around 7:30pm +1 day. Whilst it does give QF some lee-way, if it was 2hrs late, they would be over-nighting some customers. I also understand QF does some maintenance at LAX - so its not all wasted time.

I like the idea of a day-flight back. But I would suggest the 380 is the wrong plane. If QF ever gets them, the 787 may be the better plane to turn-around for a day flight... but there would still be risks.

I do like nighttime departures for QF 1 / 9. Whilst it would impact on LHR bound J passengers, it does open up better connections to EK's other European services.

 

[JohnPhelan]

QF 2 and 10 could easily leave LHR before lunchtime (and for the QF 2, make SYD before curfew). This would be much more efficient utilisation of the fleet. QF just has to give up this notion that "everybody wants to leave LHR at night". I, for one, certainly don't!! I would much prefer to leave LHR during the day and arrive back in to Australia in the evening.

 

[Mattg]

Whilst re-timing DXB/LHR flights could work (and hence reduce some downtime), I dont believe re-timing LAX flights will. Firstly, assuming QF12 becomes a day departure, it would have to leave in early morning and this eliminates connections & feed at LAX. Secondly, off my mental calculations, it would have reduced connections in SYD - If it left LAX at 9:30am (which means it would need to take QF107 SYD departure time), it would probably get into Sydney around 7:30pm +1 day. Whilst it does give QF some lee-way, if it was 2hrs late, they would be over-nighting some customers. I also understand QF does some maintenance at LAX - so its not all wasted time.

I like the idea of a day-flight back. But I would suggest the 380 is the wrong plane. If QF ever gets them, the 787 may be the better plane to turn-around for a day flight... but there would still be risks.

I do like nighttime departures for QF 1 / 9. Whilst it would impact on LHR bound J passengers, it does open up better connections to EK's other European services.

Of course there are pros and cons, but I think it would be worth the few minor drawbacks if it meant they could open a new route/reduce aircraft downtime that dramatically!

 

[hutch]

Of course there are pros and cons, but I think it would be worth the few minor drawbacks if it meant they could open a new route/reduce aircraft downtime that dramatically!

Of course... but in my opinion, a quick turnaround from LAX has more negatives than positives. We'll just have to agree to disagree. But shortening the downtime at LHR make sense. Good to see some more analysis out of CBR!

 

[sinophile888]

QF 2 and 10 could easily leave LHR before lunchtime (and for the QF 2, make SYD before curfew). This would be much more efficient utilisation of the fleet. QF just has to give up this notion that "everybody wants to leave LHR at night". I, for one, certainly don't!! I would much prefer to leave LHR during the day and arrive back in to Australia in the evening.

I agree. Last time I went to Europe, I struggled to find any flight going in the correct direction which left LHR in the morning. Eventually I found an EK flight which left at 0830; perfect.

 

[dajop]

I agree. Last time I went to Europe, I struggled to find any flight going in the correct direction which left LHR in the morning. Eventually I found an EK flight which left at 0830; perfect.

Really? Most Asian carriers have flights leaving mid-late morning that connect to day time flights to Australia, SQ, MH, TG & CX all do. They are the turn-arounds from the late evening Asia departures.

 

[Timba-Jet]

QF 2 and 10 could easily leave LHR before lunchtime (and for the QF 2, make SYD before curfew). This would be much more efficient utilisation of the fleet. QF just has to give up this notion that "everybody wants to leave LHR at night". I, for one, certainly don't!! I would much prefer to leave LHR during the day and arrive back in to Australia in the evening.

I like the sound of this as well, but what would QF do with the A380 birds once it arrives in SYD/MEL in the evening. Would it not sit for 12+ hrs overnight?

 

[sinophile888]

Really? Most Asian carriers have flights leaving mid-late morning that connect to day time flights to Australia, SQ, MH, TG & CX all do. They are the turn-arounds from the late evening Asia departures.

I didn't mention my other requirement of no night flights. I needed 6 daytime flights, 4 on EK and 2 on QF. We stopped over in Dubai and Singapore in both directions. The EK flight ex LHR still arrived into Dubai quite late (about 2000) with the time difference. There were no other alternatives with all my restrictions at that time.

 

[markis10]

The move to put a service back to SIN then through to LHR seems to be getting a bit of traction, I am just not sure how economically viable it is, traffic Asia to LHR has been dropping for some time.

 

[Awesom Andy]

The move to put a service back to SIN then through to LHR seems to be getting a bit of traction, I am just not sure how economically viable it is, traffic Asia to LHR has been dropping for some time.

Load factor SYD-SIN hasn't been all that crash hot either. At the same time, CX just had a massive sale on Y seats for AU-HKG, with some of the lowest prices in recent times.

 

[markis10]

Load factor SYD-SIN hasn't been all that crash hot either. At the same time, CX just had a massive sale on Y seats for AU-HKG, with some of the lowest prices in recent times.

If they ditch both current SYD SIN services and put an A380 back on it might make sense, not sure how onward loads would be.

 

[Awesom Andy]

If they ditch both current SYD SIN services and put an A380 back on it might make sense, not sure how onward loads would be.

Speaking of which, QF just launched a massive sale for ex-SIN in Y as well - $660 SGD return. Taking off the notional value of points (especially as a WP), baggage, food, etc, that's actually cheaper than an LCC.

 

[sinophile888]

At the same time, CX just had a massive sale on Y seats for AU-HKG, with some of the lowest prices in recent times.

I paid approx A$650 for PER -> HKG return x 3. Sweet! PE was more than double, so I was able to resist this time.

 

[QPProletarian]

Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian


Qantas boss Alan Joyce has outlined more ''hard decisions'' ahead for the airline as he seeks to carve out $2 billion in costs before making another pitch to the Abbott government for a helping hand.
In a closed-door briefing to a large group of Coalition MPs and senators in Canberra, Mr Joyce foreshadowed the magnitude of the extra costs he plans to strip out by emphasising that they will be proportionately greater than those made to American Airlines when it was placed in bankruptcy protection.
He told the group, which included Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, that national airlines ''cannot stand still'', and Qantas would be shifting to a new, accelerated phase of cost cutting.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/few-qantas-cuts-to-be-popular-joyce-tells-coalition-mps-20140212-32idy.html

 

[heycam]

Joe Hockey ready to throw Qantas a lifeline

Qantas has sought a government-backed debt guarantee as it battles Virgin Blue for market share, and in an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, Mr Hockey said in his view, the airline’s request for assistance met four essential pre-conditions.