Off topic, but hybrid VA must have J.
They have a very solid footing in the J market, even on routes you’d assume don’t need J. It would be silly to add the fleet complexity of having Y-only 737s and go against the transformation towards a hybrid.
Mmmmmm interesting but I’m not convinced VA2 really need it anymore with their lack of interest in pursuing the corporate market these days.
I think this is slightly overstated. I’m not saying VA hasn’t lost corporate contracts since pivoting, but they’re still there. And over the last few months, they’ve become a much more compelling option for a lot of corporate travellers on both price and service. The amount of QF QTags starting to appear in the lounge is no coincidence.
People discredit VA’s ability to compete, but flying them multiple times a week, you see it’s not really the case. T3 at Tullamarine is always bursting at the seams, priority boarding and check-in lanes are always well used, lounges are well patronised and all 8 J seats are consistently filled - without giving free upgrades at the gate. And they have no problem filling Y to capacity on the quieter days - something Rex struggles with.
It’s been discussed VA2 aren’t making any money / breaking even at very best from the current cabin and pricing on FT, so if that is true I guess why would Bain persevere….
Borders have opened and closed more times than we can remember. It’s hardly surprising they wouldn’t be at the point in the turnaround Bain would have expected by now, but it doesn’t mean they won’t get there. In terms of pricing, have you seen last minute VA fares? They can be astronomical…
Back to topic, because this is a Rex thread after all. They aren’t established in the J market and aren’t really doing much to find a footing. They’d have the least to lose by abandoning it. Creating a FFP is a huge investment that I’m not sure will provide much return. How many people are really going to shift over when VA & QF have very strong offerings, and Rex have limited trunk routes and frequencies?
I still think focusing on an excellent Y product (which their jet operations provide IMO) is the way forward. I do want ZL’s jet experiment to be successful because I have enjoyed my flights with them, but I really hope they’re not trying to be a carbon copy of VA & QF through a plan predicated on VA disappearing. Maybe they need to learn some lessons from how it turned out for VA trying to be QF for all those years.