Update on Austrian Airlines Saga

Senior management at Austrian Airlines and representatives of the employees’ union have reached agreement on a new labour agreement. While the details are yet to be disclosed, the key point is that one option: that of Austrian Airlines becoming an LCC has been avoided. Austrian Airlines CEO Jaan Albrecht stated: “I am relieved. The agreement […]

Can airlines find their Sweet Spot?

With the ongoing convergence of passenger airline business models, it’s worth remembering the fact that despite this convergence, there are distinct differences between the intended positioning of the airlines related to on the ‘front-end’ product and service mix on the one hand and the ‘back-end’ cost structures that the airlines exhibit. The diagram below breakouts […]

Future Options for Austrian Airlines Management

The severe blow dealt by the European Court of Justice’s ruling to management at Austrian Airlines (Tyrolean) – a fully-owned subsidiary of Lufthansa Group – that they cannot negotiate an agreement with the works council on the basis of a Tyrolean deal (rather than the more generous old Austrian Airlines one) means that the management have […]

The Worst Stock Photo Ever Used to Sell An Awful Product – LOT Polish Airlines

This has to be the worst stock photo ever used by an airline to sell a useless product by a very poor airline. The value proposition? Pay us more money to sit at the front of the plane where we will serve you poor food (that 5 years ago we would have served in economy […]

The Alamo or Gunfight at the OK Corral? Air France and Lufthansa/Austrian Pilots’ Strikes

In the copycat world of European passenger aviation, Executives at both LH Group and Air France-KLM have embraced the ‘inevitable’ need for a LCC to compete with Ryanair, easyJet, Vueling, Wizzair and Norwegian Shuttle. As mentioned in an earlier blog this month, AF-KLM are seeking to ramp up their LCC subsidiary – Transavia – to […]

Aviation Op-Ed – September Edition

As a very frequent flyer with Lufthansa Group, I received to much fanfare (and cost – they paid for an envelope to be sent to me containing expensive bleach white color printed pamphlets) about two new ‘benefits’ afforded its frequent flyers: the ‘all-new’ Miles and More Selections for passengers who more than meet the status […]

How are European LCCs doing financially?

According to the Centre for Aviation (CAPA2014) the average EBIT margin for full service carriers in Europe in 2013 was just 3 percent. As has been discussed at length in previous posts at this blog, that poor performance is neither surprising nor unavoidable. Nevertheless, it is interesting to look at the performance of some of […]