Archive for January, 2008
January 18 2008
Thanks to Flyertalk…
American Airlines is offering a crazy deal on reward tickets to Tahiti…for travel through May 31st, you can fly from JFK to Tahiti for 30,000 miles round trip. Travel is only good on Air Tahiti Nui, and connecting travel on American Airlines is not permitted — it’s just for the Air Tahiti Nui portion. Yes, it’s about 16 hours with a stop in Los Angeles. But it’s a really, really, really good deal. Have fun!
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January 18 2008
Thanks to View from the Wing…
Get 15% off one-way and roundtrip flights from Los Angeles-area airports for flights from February 26th through April 30th (blackouts include March 14-16, 21-25 and 28-31). Use promo code DFHOLLYWDGO when booking.
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January 18 2008
Every other news/blog/random person has written about the BA crash, but I think few will share this detail: after undergoing 5 hours of grilling by investigators, the plane’s pilot took his crew out for curry. I’m not sure why that matters, but it was the lead headline in the Daily Mail. Just thought you’d like to know.
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January 18 2008
If you wanted to be one of the first to fly the A380 when it begins service to the US, now is your time: Emirates is selling tickets on A380 flights between New York and Dubai. First class seats are going quickly (even at $7000 round trip), but coach seats are in the $1300 range (about the same as a non-A380 flight to Dubai).
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January 17 2008
Since I have nothing more to add about the Delta merger rumors, I thought I’d pass along the next most interesting piece of news: If you’re flying out of Kolkata (Calcutta) in the next few days, you won’t be getting chicken: Because of an outbreak in bird flu, airlines have stopped serving chicken and, instead, will serve the next most obvious item: mutton. Unless, of course, you ordered the mutton-free meal. Then I don’t know what you’ll be getting.
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January 16 2008
A fun little piece of advice:
If you’re stranded at LAX for a couple of hours waiting for a connection, why not take a free shuttle over to In-N-Out Burger? (Sure, it’s a shuttle for a parking lot, but there’s an In-N-Out right there!)
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January 15 2008
With the demise of MAXjet, several articles have commented on EOS and Silverjet, frequently suggesting that they "say they are in good shape" (as in today’s NY Times) or something to that effect. This wholly-unfounded assertion is based (as far as I can tell) on press releases put out by the airlines themselves (which are generally presumed to be doing fine, apparently, until they put out a press release like MAXjet did essentially saying they are going out of business.) But let’s look at the facts:
Brokerage Daniel Stewart (UK) put out an absolutely blistering note on Silverjet saying, "Our target price is nil. We would sell at any price." Ouch. There’s more: They add that their performance "is so far adrift of what is required that, in our view, the business is doomed to fail unless something changes – significantly and rapidly."
SilverJet, of course, says that the figures cited in the report are wrong, but how wrong could they be? The bank says their costs are twice their revenues. OK, so adjust that by, what, 50%? It still means they’ll run out of cash without an infusion. Their average fares (about $2400 round trip) simply aren’t even close to where they need to be, and with AA at about the same price point in biz class, they have zero pricing power. They’d need to lower their prices to fill up their half-empty planes, and that won’t cover the bills. It’s not good.
And despite EOS’ press releases (and news reports) to the contrary, it’s not looking so good over there, either. Reporters who don’t usually cover airlines will sometimes say that private carriers don’t release financial results, so their performance is a black hole. That is not true — all airlines have to file financials with the US government (you can find them here). So let’s look at what’s happening at EOS (full disclosure: I worked there for a bit as a consultant. I harbor no ill will, and I think it’s an amazing concept.)
Financials have only been released through the end of the 3rd quarter, so we’ll look at those: Eos lost $11 million in Q1, $14 million in Q2 and $12 million in Q3. Operating revenues were about $16 million in Q1, $20 million in Q2 and $21 million in Q3. When you’re only taking in $21 million, a $12 million loss is significant. They had only $9 million of cash on hand at the end of Q2 after burning through just under $15 million in cash in Q2 (though they’ve since raised $50 million — at this burn rate, they’ll be through that by Q3 of ‘08).
Perhaps we’ll see a turnaround. But really, how is that going to happen? How do you close the monthly gap between $7 million in revenue and about $12 million in costs?
Although media generally lumped EOS and MAXjet together, they really weren’t competitors (EOS launched with a $6000 round trip fare vs. $1200 round trip fare; completely different products). Silverjet and Eos are closer, so a defunct Silverjet will probably help Eos a bit. Perhaps the Paris launch they’ve mentioned could help longer-term, except that:
a) launching a new city is costly;
b) L’Avion already serves that market with a Silverjet-esque product;
c) British Airways will launch that route with its new OpenSkies product soon
Doesn’t sound like that will turn things around by July.
Without further cash infusions, Silverjet and EOS may very well be gone by the end of the year, though I’m certain someone else will come along and try to serve the route. Consumers should be disappointed with that — EOS offers an untouchable product for, at times, 1/4 the price of British Airways’ first class. Sad.
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January 15 2008
The US has downgraded the safety rating of airlines based in the Philippines to Category 2, meaning carriers from the Pacific nation will be placed under heightened scrutiny (along with some other restrictions). The FAA said that the Philippine government does not have sufficient oversight or funding to ensure the safety of its airlines.
This move puts the country in the questionnable company of Bangladesh, Ivory Coast, Ghana and
Indonesia. Only Philippines Airlines currently flies to the US, though this move could stand to benefit Hawaiian Airlines, which is launching flights to Manila from Honolulu.
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January 15 2008
FlyGlobespan, the Irish (thanks to the commenter for pointing out my error in the original post) carrier which had lost (then earned back) its safety certification from the UK, has voluntarily surrendered its safety certificate due to "a very minor thing" which was not outlined. The airline flies from Liverpool and Knock (Ireland) to the US during the summer months and hopes to have the flights up and running by then.
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January 15 2008
A 27-year old Indian woman gave birth to a baby over Pakistan during an Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Delhi. The crew delivered the baby on their own while they spoke via telephone to a doctor in Vienna. The baby and mother are doing well. Plus, they were placed in business class after the birth — add that to your list of ways to get upgraded.
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30,000 Miles Round Trip to Tahiti