Virgin Australia Out Of Albany-Esperance Tender

[Grahame Hutchison]

From ABC Esperance ...

Eyre MLA Graham Jacobs has accused Virgin Australia of taking advantage of Government regulation to "cherry pick" profitable regional routes.

The carrier's decision to pull out of the tender process for the Esperance-Perth and Albany-Perth routes has raised the ire of leaders in both communities, with the future of flights beyond February next year uncertain.

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[Radi K]

It's because all the F50's are leaving I'm told.

[Garry Emanuel]

Much fanfare at the time of entry and boasting of "community commitment" which evaporates very quickly.

I am not familiar with the details of either route and in the past have been "pulled up" for commenting on the VA philosophy. I get it, they are in business to make a profit and I don't expect they would/should continue to operate a route if it is economically unviable.

That said, each time I hear VA are embarking upon a new route, I cringe at their marketing materials that play the communities out to be "fools".

I daresay if QF had entered and then exited this route, the cries would have been far louder, the criticism far more vitriolic and the threats and remonstrations more aggressive. VA does it and it gets passed off as "OK".

I feel for the communities that mirror Esperance and Albany (and there are many of them across this great land !). They have benefits we take for granted in larger cities but they get shafted all too often in cases like this - not just VA, plenty of others do it to them as well.

Fingers crossed for Skippers or REX ! ! ! ! !

[Greg McDonald]

Absolutely agree with everything you've said Garry but as you've also said, at the end of the day they're running a business. If the people in these regions don't/won't use the service, of course it will be taken away. As far as I'm concerned, they also then don't have the right to complain about it!

[Garry Emanuel]

My main gripe is the manner in which the "foray in to these routes" is handled at the outset.

Be much more understanding if they said up front - "this is the model we have used to win this work and if it doesn't come off, we're outta here."

At present, there is a propensity to infer the community is important and central to the decision but as soon as the numbers don't add up, they exit. I get the numbers and as a business operator, I would be doing the same.

That said, integrity is not something VA seems to have at its core and therefore, the piece that is missing for me is the temerity to be open, transparent and up front rather than deceptive and in some ways, duplicitous.

I would love nothing more than to see all of our remote communities with access to reliable flights to their nearest major centre, all of the providers making a profit and everyone happy.

Flip side, to achieve that outcome, there would be a need to spread the profits to cover the losses and at this point, the micro-economic models we operate with in many businesses do not provide scope for that to happen. At present, in circle of business, profit is king whilst capital (cheap) and customer (relatively unimportant) are on the wrong side of the ledger.

[Daniel M]

oh yeh curse Virgin, damn their management cherry picking routes trying to find profitable ones !

after all, businesses and in particular, airlines, should be run as not-for-profit organizations for the benefit of us all !

I look forward to purchasing a brand new $20,000 Lamborghini soon !

[Garry Emanuel]

Perhaps read the post and you will see that I am not inferring they should run at a loss, rather, adopt a more "open" style in the communication which spells out the basis of the decision and the expectations.

Then, when they ultimately opt out or trade up to a different route, the reasons are known and it doesn't fly in the face of their initial messaging about starting on the route.

[Paul F]

Originally Posted by Daniel M

I look forward to purchasing a brand new $20,000 Lamborghini soon !

Good luck trying to buy a brand new Lamborghini for $20,000

[Mick F]

Gary,
As a passenger, I would automatically assume that if an airline can't make a profit on a particular route, then I know they will pull the route, unless it's under a contract like the QLD Government has for several routes.

I think having an airline spell it out for us is stating the obvious isn't it?

Mick

[Daniel M]

Originally Posted by Paul F

Good luck trying to buy a brand new Lamborghini for $20,000

ummmm