What is Virgin Australia's strategy (post-administration)?

[jakeseven7]

First world problem indeed but still relevant given how high cancellation rates are especially on the triangle routes.

Also what I’ve found very annoyingly with being cancelled by VA2 many times is that your electronic boarding pass changes (if you are checked in) and there is no way to change your seat yourself, once you have a boarding pass that is it (different to QF where you can change your seat even when checked in).

Am I missing a trick / hack to change my seat myself once checked in??

 

[Harrison_133]

Am I missing a trick / hack to change my seat myself once checked in??

Unfortunately not. If you’d checked in for your original flight, it automatically checks you in and allocates a seat for the new one. If you hadn’t checked in at all, it’s fine and you can still change your seat before checking in for the new flight.

I wait until I’m on my way to the airport to OLCI now. Learnt my lesson after I got stuck in a middle seat all the way to Perth because of this annoying little quirk.

 

[AIRwin]

I wait until I’m on my way to the airport to OLCI now. Learnt my lesson after I got stuck in a middle seat all the way to Perth because of this annoying little quirk.

Same here - or ask lounge to change seats as a last resort if there are still any left

 

[jakeseven7]

I wait until I’m on my way to the airport to OLCI now. Learnt my lesson after I got stuck in a middle seat all the way to Perth because of this annoying little quirk.

Thank you, I thought as much. Just thought there might be a work around I wasn’t privy to, only fly VA2 for leisure as work moved away from them so not as frequently as I used to.

Same here - or ask lounge to change seats as a last resort if there are still any left

Yes which I tried but lines were so long because of cancelations had to give up.

 

[Harrison_133]

Yes which I tried but lines were so long because of cancelations had to give up.

These things could be made so much easier, but another work around you could try is to swing by check in before heading through security and use the self serve kiosks to change seats.

If you’re already in the lounge, I think the MEL lounge still has one check in kiosk on the right as you enter that could be used to change seats too.

 

[twinaisle]

40 is indeed common but still asking for trouble.

That's what we tell them but the official minimum turn is 35 mins.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

That's what we tell them but the official minimum turn is 35 mins.

Yikes. And looking more closely, it was indeed 35 minutes today so that really was intentional, and then delayed another 35. After a series of misfortunes, we pulled away from the gate a cool 90 minutes behind.

Fortunately for others, it looks like they were able to source another aircraft for what had originally been scheduled for the rest of the day with ours so hopefully further delays were minimised.

 

[twinaisle]

Yikes. And looking more closely, it was indeed 35 minutes today so that really was intentional, and then delayed another 35. After a series of misfortunes, we pulled away from the gate a cool 90 minutes behind.

Fortunately for others, it looks like they were able to source another aircraft for what had originally been scheduled for the rest of the day with ours so hopefully further delays were minimised.

It indeed is very intentional for aircraft and crew to work more

 

[Must...Fly!]

It's unfortunate and the pressure is high on everyone. I know precisely from first hand experience how hard it is to turn 176 odd passengers over in that time but there doesn't seem to be an alternative at the moment. Certainly not a sustainable one.

 

[openseat]

An EU261 equivalent would provide the necessary incentive for Virgin to work harder on the delays and cancellations. If the government is persisting with a closed shop in the aviation market, signaled by not inlcuding aviation not being part of the competition review, then an EU261 equivalent law is even more necessary.

 

[Must...Fly!]

An EU261 equivalent would provide the necessary incentive for Virgin to work harder on the delays and cancellations. If the government is persisting with a closed shop in the aviation market, signaled by not inlcuding aviation not being part of the competition review, then an EU261 equivalent law is even more necessary.

I'm not so sure. For the consumer yes but frankly why should a private company carry the can of financial compensation when the government won't allow competition to work naturally to fix the issue? I don't think 261 style regs are going to help in a closed shop as you put it, they're likely to just put upward pressure on fares.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm not so sure. For the consumer yes but frankly why should a private company carry the can of financial compensation when the government won't allow competition to work naturally to fix the issue? I don't think 261 style regs are going to help in a closed shop as you put it, they're likely to just put upward pressure on fares.

More competition would perhaps provide some incentive to run flights on time? If you are going to argue against competition, then give us a proper compensation scheme,

Although unfortunately delays of just an hour probably aren’t going to be eligible anyway.

Tight turnarounds are unworkable. Delays compound. And VA just can’t recover once it snowballs.

I see BA has started to decouple crews from aircraft, so it is common for all arriving crew into London to deplane and go to their next aircraft and flight. This at least means if delays start to become substantial, a replacement crew and aircraft are sourced. BA has several short haul aircraft, and crews, on standby at heathrow just for this reason.

Or else VA needs to cut the number of flights, and allow an hour or more between them. It’s the passenger that bears the brunt of this.

 

[jakeseven7]

These things could be made so much easier, but another work around you could try is to swing by check in before heading through security and use the self serve kiosks to change seats.

Ok, so just so I understand. You can’t change seat on app/online once you checked in / or checked in then your flight canceled and moved.

But you are saying if you can find a self service machine, even though you are checked in you can re-checkin and change seats?

 

[MooTime]

queues were long because of the cancellations I expect and hardly any humans at airports anymore -

Airports like the zoo these days I hear, demand high, metal tube on high demand.
The red attire of VA staff very noticeable, just have to remove the shades.

So yes the ongoing operational issues and high cancellation rates are annoying.

C'mon, how much is the difference between between qf and VA cancellation rates?

So why fly VA leisure when work pays for your P1 QF? ..... The benefits you miss out on flying sick cousin VA.
Why bother?

 

[Harrison_133]

Ok, so just so I understand. You can’t change seat on app/online once you checked in / or checked in then your flight canceled and moved.

But you are saying if you can find a self service machine, even though you are checked in you can re-checkin and change seats?

Once you’ve checked in, you can’t change seats through the app at all for any flight.

If you had already checked in for your original flight when it gets cancelled, then you will be automatically checked in & allocated a seat for the flight they rebook you on.

If you had NOT already checked in at the time your original flight is cancelled, you will need to check in for your new flight, until which you can manage seat selection through the app as normal.

Both of these scenarios also apply when you change your flight through Rapid Rebook.

But all the self service kiosks at the airport allow you to change your seats at the airport after you’ve checked in. If only they could figure out a way to extend that function to the app…

 

[jakeseven7]

Once you’ve checked in, you can’t change seats through the app at all for any flight.

If you had already checked in for your original flight when it gets cancelled, then you will be automatically checked in & allocated a seat for the flight they rebook you on.

If you had NOT already checked in at the time your original flight is cancelled, you will need to check in for your new flight, until which you can manage seat selection through the app as normal.

Both of these scenarios also apply when you change your flight through Rapid Rebook.

But all the self service kiosks at the airport allow you to change your seats at the airport after you’ve checked in. If only they could figure out a way to extend that function to the app…

Right… thanks, I didn’t realise the self check in kiosks had that super power over the app/online! How bizarre. Haven’t used a kiosk for years. Thanks for explaining, agree I’m not sure why that functionality is blocked from the app!

 

[dk4]

Or else VA needs to cut the number of flights, and allow an hour or more between them. It’s the passenger that bears the brunt of this.

I think that passengers would also bear the brunt of significantly higher prices, if the company wanted to make a return on investment from the lower capital utilisation rates you suggest! (Or more to the point, there wouldn't be many passengers left anyway, at the ticket prices required to achieve this.)

I do note though, VA seem to have a longer turn around timetabled when there is a crew shift change on an aircraft. Also worth observing that many European LCCs have a turn around time of 25minutes in non-base locations.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

I think that passengers would also bear the brunt of significantly higher prices, if the company wanted to make a return on investment from the lower capital utilisation rates you suggest! (Or more to the point, there wouldn't be many passengers left anyway, at the ticket prices required to achieve this.)

If those two options are the only ones put to offer, effectively the strategy is either: "Enjoy cheaper fares with terrible operational performance," or, "Pay more for better performance." Reasonable people will all come to different conclusions based on their priorities.

For the moment, while operational performance is poor across the industry, I'd say it's a bit of a muchness. However, if we start seeing materially better performance on other carriers, that value proposition comes front and centre. I'll leave it to the revenue managers at VA to decide what's best for their yields. I personally would be thinking twice.

I do note though, VA seem to have a longer turn around timetabled when there is a crew shift change on an aircraft. Also worth observing that many European LCCs have a turn around time of 25minutes in non-base locations.

Flying BNE-SYD yesterday at midday, the aircraft had a 35-minute scheduled turn. It arrived on time from SYD, but was still delayed 35 minutes even before the on-time arrival touched down. When acknowledging the delay, the captain said it was due to the late arrival "of the crew from Melbourne."

Just one anecdote, of course, but suggests there's not a firm approach to this. Appreciate also that some carriers manage short turns fairly well, and while I find Australian carriers are far better than e.g., their North American counterparts, I can't imagine either VA or QF turning a 738 around in 25 minutes.

 

[jakeseven7]

Some media reports are saying that Bain has now formally shelved all attempts to offload VA2 this year, due to lack of interest.

Will apparently go back to drawing board and try again in 2024 at earliest….

Cook up some nice new numbers! (And maybe try to fix some of the operational issues first?)

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/virgin-australia-in-a-holding-pattern-as-bain-delays-float-plans/news-story/4c67c01468a8589e1189fc01a2b5b237?amp&nk=813b4424d8779e28496ea8cb5fc15d8c-1694210852

 

[MooTime]

Some media reports are saying that Bain has now formally shelved all attempts to offload VA2 this year, due to lack of interest.

Will apparently go back to drawing board and try again in 2024 at earliest….

Cook up some nice new numbers! (And maybe try to fix some of the operational issues first?)

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/dataroom/virgin-australia-in-a-holding-pattern-as-bain-delays-float-plans/news-story/4c67c01468a8589e1189fc01a2b5b237?amp&nk=813b4424d8779e28496ea8cb5fc15d8c-1694210852

I'd say only thing VA cooking up is nicer meals in J cabin than others, certainly seems to be the consensus.

In regards to cooking up numbers, a certain other airline in damage control, millions of $$ of unaccounted flight credits and the all time classic selling tickets to cancelled flights, thousands of them, that's cooking up numbers at it's finest.