Virgin to lose A330's and B777's - become mid range airline - really?

[HS-TQE]

Keep in mind the current partnerships and JVs will have to be renegotiated, as basically the partnerships and JVs were negotiated under the VA mk 1 management and operation.

The incoming owners Bain Capital will want the partnerships that will maximise their return on investment without influence from the (former) ownership team.

IMO considering most of VA mk 1's partnerships had little, the only one out the partnership that is a near certainty is SQ, although likely without the 'controversial' point swapping arrangement between KF and Velocity.

DL and NH are likely to be the other (near) certainties off the rank, although this time as a domestic feeder for both carriers (as opposed to when VA did some flying alongside DL).
UA would be a extremely slim chance to 'replace' DL at this stage, even though they have the larger post-COVID network (SYD-LAX and SYD/MEL-SFO)

The HNA group carriers are likely to be removed for numerous reasons, and a question mark would be over Etihad as Qatar may be a 'slim' dark-horse.

 

[jakeseven7]

Keep in mind the current partnerships and JVs will have to be renegotiated, as basically the partnerships and JVs were negotiated under the VA mk 1 management and operation.

The incoming owners Bain Capital will want the partnerships that will maximise their return on investment without influence from the (former) ownership team.

IMO considering most of VA mk 1's partnerships had little, the only one out the partnership that is a near certainty is SQ, although likely without the 'controversial' point swapping arrangement between KF and Velocity.

DL and NH are likely to be the other (near) certainties off the rank, although this time as a domestic feeder for both carriers (as opposed to when VA did some flying alongside DL).
UA would be a extremely slim chance to 'replace' DL at this stage, even though they have the larger post-COVID network (SYD-LAX and SYD/MEL-SFO)

The HNA group carriers are likely to be removed for numerous reasons, and a question mark would be over Etihad as Qatar may be a 'slim' dark-horse.

Personally for me to even consider using them again they would need significant partnerships with SQ, EY and Delta at an absolute bare minimum.

Given Bain/VA2 will have zero real international presence they are going to have to lean heavily on their international partners.

Star Alliance hasn't been mentioned for a while in this thread

 

[kyanar]

Personally for me to even consider using them again they would need significant partnerships with SQ, EY and Delta at an absolute bare minimum.

Given Bain/VA2 will have zero real international presence they are going to have to lean heavily on their international partners.

Star Alliance hasn't been mentioned for a while in this thread

Hasn't there been suggestions for a while that Virgin could consider joining SkyTeam? It's a smaller alliance so the entry bar may be a bit lower. It would also benefit the alliance to have a South Pacific presence (vs Star Alliance with NZ and OneWorld with QF) .

Curious if the name will go as well? It must cost a fair whack to license the "Virgin" brand from Branson.

 

[Vic]

VA1 consistently cancelled flights on the golden triangle when they didn’t sell enough seats but at least the frequency didn’t mean too much hassle for passengers (as did QF and JQ of course)

I wasn't talking about jetstar on golden triangle. Try more like Jetstar doing this when the alternatives are -5 hours, or +11 hours. MEL -SYD with 15 minute frequencies isn't even comparable.

 

[jakeseven7]

Hasn't there been suggestions for a while that Virgin could consider joining SkyTeam? It's a smaller alliance so the entry bar may be a bit lower. It would also benefit the alliance to have a South Pacific presence (vs Star Alliance with NZ and OneWorld with QF) .

Curious if the name will go as well? It must cost a fair whack to license the "Virgin" brand from Branson.

It is pretty much guaranteed Branson will buy a small sliver of VA2 so he can force them to continue to pay huge royalty fees. So the name will stay.

 

[antycbr]

It is pretty much guaranteed Branson will buy a small sliver of VA2 so he can force them to continue to pay huge royalty fees. So the name will stay.

Its also saving millions in rebranding which is not needed right now. Hopefully he is giving a waiver on the royalties - I’m sure Bain will tell him to go away if he tries it on.

 

[melb78]

I think they will keep ANA code share as it we be a great feeder

 

[BAM1748]

It is pretty much guaranteed Branson will buy a small sliver of VA2 so he can force them to continue to pay huge royalty fees. So the name will stay.

I think it will be more along the lines of you will be paid along with us when there is a positive return, Bain can be bloody and will find the money to re-brand if they have to.

 

[jakeseven7]

I think it will be more along the lines of you will be paid along with us when there is a positive return

Doubt it.....he forced VA1 to pay every single year they lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Regardless we the great unwashed will never know the details as they will bury it deep.

 

[melb78]

Have noticed VA 777vh-vph leaving melbourne To a unknown destination wonder if this a first aircraft to go from VA register.

 

[melb78]

I stand corrected it must be on a test flight or a short flight to keep everything working

 

[AIRwin]

Both VH-VOZ and VH-VPD also did a circuit around BNE today...

 

[melb78]

Must be keeping them in working condition

 

[oz_mark]

Doubt it.....he forced VA1 to pay every single year they lost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Regardless we the great unwashed will never know the details as they will bury it deep.

Virgin Group had already agreed to waive the license fees for this year.

Have noticed VA 777vh-vph leaving melbourne To a unknown destination wonder if this a first aircraft to go from VA register.

Three 737s have already been removed from the register
YFG
YFN
YFQ

 

[melb78]

Hopefully there all the older ones that were in vb days.

 

[AIRwin]

Hopefully there all the older ones that were in vb days.

I think those will be from the VO* or VU* series...

 

[melb78]

The last time I flew with them the plane I had was Deliver was in 2001 or around that time as it still had the old headphone plugs on the arm rest

 

[oz_mark]

Hopefully there all the older ones that were in vb days.

Not the oldest, but they were all from same lessor. Some more 737s wll be returned to that lessor.

Here's a pic of one, with its new rego

https://flic.kr/p/2jB6Xeb

 

[mrmerc500]

I got hooked by this blog post:

Virgin Australia to Retain Lounges, Ditch 777s & A330s

Virgin Australia has revealed how the airline plans to emerge from voluntary administration, and it's a mixture of good and bad news.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

If that ends up proving true and VA fly a fleet of 737's with ticketing cheaper than QF but more expensive than JQ how much interest is left here at AFF to even bother?

As a Western Australian I've about had my lifetime fill of 737's - cramped and noisy beasts that they are. Longest trip I ever did on one with VA was 6.5 hours HKT->PER and though it was in the 737 version of J it was, frankly, a nightmare that didn't seem to end. I'm not up for 4-5 hours transcon in one of these any more ... perhaps I'm just getting old and soft.

The associated problem is what to do with a million VA FF points? VA J in the 737 is not even close to being worthwhile imho. Even if they halved the points cost to fly in J I'd still have to think long and hard and see what alternatives existed. I've done a bunch of flying in 737 J up and down the east coast, its ok for that, if they labelled and priced it more sensibly as Y+ I'd have a lot less to say. Mid last year, well before all the current problems I held onto the hope that the 737's were going to be refitted as 1+1 or 1+2 seating, with capsules similar to the A330 'the business' ... but alas ...

So, not to rant on and on about things that no longer exist: Who here is likely to keep flying VA once we all get back to normal living and the airline is back up in the air with a new owner? If the subject/blog is to be believed, I can't see it gaining my interest. If I want cheap and (possibly) nasty, well, JQ, if I want to reduce nastiness levels (again ... perhaps), then spend a few dollars more and QF. If I want to spend more and get a different level of nasty .... the new VA???

I used to fly VA a bit and exchange points for J fares where possible and reasonable - that will be gone for me once the 330's are out of the fleet. So, I really _really_ hope that the points transfer arrangement with SQ will still hold up after the new owners come on board. I need to move my stash! Domestically, I can't see I'll have much choice but to move to QF and if I'm going to do that, then it follows I should renew my efforts with QFF points ... essentially disconnecting from the VA world entirely.

The VA flight to coughet was certainly an interesting route, it was during the time that VA was still flying to Bali which was a great mix for crew however the 6.5 hours in a narrow body was a stretch.

The flight out of Perth was great timing however the return wasn’t ideal, although remember it not being overly full so had a full row to sleep.

I do wish VA all the best, for the employee’s, suppliers & the greater good of the Australian aviation market for choice.

However as a savvy points collector with aspirational J awards in mine, removing the A330 which we travelled predominately on the Coast to Coast routes is now a real disappointment and disincentive to continue with Velocity.

I’m finding myself happy to consider JQ and chasing points club+ for lounge access unless the fares we see are compatible with JQ & significantly cheaper then QF of which we’ll use our Platinum card for lounge access with VA.

I do hope that we can see widebodies back in the fleet with VA to create diversity.

If VA was to join an Alliance, I would certainly reconsider my travel & spending habits.

 

[Mattg]

The VA flight to coughet was certainly an interesting route, it was during the time that VA was still flying to Bali which was a great mix for crew however the 6.5 hours in a narrow body was a stretch.

The flight out of Perth was great timing however the return wasn’t ideal, although remember it not being overly full so had a full row to sleep.

HKT 22:45 - PER 06:15+1. 6h 30m overnight on a 738. Ouch - no wonder that route didn't last!