I've thought about starting an airline - an all inclusive fare type deal - also no carry on bags.
Good luck with that :-) Frequent travelers, i.e. the people who airlines massively depend on for their profits, hate to check luggage.
Starting an Airline
111–120 of 234 posts
Re: Starting an Airline
#112It blows my mind how people start such big businesses. You must build an airport, hire stuff, buy planes, meet many legal requirements and so on, all costing tens of millions of dollars, and on top of that, it must be profitable. This gives some insight, but still it's terryfing. I feel so small.
Air travel in the US is a massively subsidized business (the government gives huge amounts of money to Boeing to make next-gen warcraft, then Boeing translates those R&D concepts into airplanes. The airlines were, for a long time, subsidized by air post. Fuel prices are still much lower than they could be. These things are barely directly profitable, but they contribute immensely to the global economy. That's the int…
Boeing Defense doesn't make a whole lot of surplus cash either.[1] They've eaten some large expenses in the last 2 years (KC-46 tanker cost overrun, Advanced Super Hornet development program) and probably others. I don't believe there is significant cash flow over to Boeing Commercial Aircraft. There is exceptions like the KC-46 and P-8, but most programs are Boeing Defense only with almost no crossover.
The Boeing 737NG line is probably their most profitable product overall. That is from Boeing Commercial Aircraft.
Some financials for your reference [1] http://boeing.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=20295&item=128736
Re: Starting an Airline
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Now Exxon just needs to buy Boeing and then start and airline bringing the full powers of vertical integration to bear. That's probably the only way to make a dime consistently.
Well, Delta did buy a refinery last year. It was a crazy move but I haven't heard much about how it's going since then.
True. The real winner is Emirates. They refuel when at the hub in the UAE where they get fuel for next to nothing. That is awesome given fuel is the driving cost of most airlines. When Boeing invents a flying fuel barge, expect them to dominate US routes.
Re: Starting an Airline
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would assume these margins get even thinner and customer service even worse in the future as most people really do just go to a referral site, grab the cheapest flight and call it a day (I mean honestly, where I'm currently at in life, I don't need comfort on a flight, I just need to get from point a to point b as cheaply as possible and I assume this applies to 80% of people flying). I was just on a Frontier fligh…
One solution to the carry on size restrictions: wearable luggage!! http://www.skyscanner.net/news/best-wearable-luggage-jackets...
That bagket video is... wow.
Re: Starting an Airline
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
On point 2), humans are still very much "social animals", and time and time again I see that business works a lot better face to face, and trust is much more easily gained. That has been repeatedly established, and there are very strong reasons why people with very limited time still travel a lot of hours to conduct their business. Not everyone is the same, but it is the norm rather than the exception. http://www.iac…
There are technologies today , for example teleconference rooms, which probably capture most verbal and non-verbal feedbackin meetings, to the points participants claim it's like being there. It would be interesting to do an experiment:isolate someone for a period of time, but let him have full contact with family and friends via the best electronic means we have , and measure the impact of his mood and well-being.
It's funny, because, while I'm not extremely isolated, I have lived through periods of my life when all my family was abroad (I stayed in Uruguay, most emigrated, others studied abroad), and I have few local friends.
No amount of telephone calls, chats, Facebook or Skyping can compare to in-person interaction. I have a photo of a recent Christmas, with 3 screens with Skype calls to family in Canada and Europe on each screen, and while it helps to "be" there more than just a phone call, it's still nowhere near the same.
It is of course anecdotal, but that was my experience.
I didn't have a full-wall videoscreen with HD, maybe for a limited environment like a meeting it can be a very reasonable simulation... but at least in Latin countries like mine, "real" negotiations and bonding/trust building occur over a shared meal or other shared experiences, which cannot be currently simulated.
Going back to the original topic: business air travel isn't dying soon.
Maybe some inmersive 3-d environment will finally kill it (and we'll see Second Life as an innovation before its time, much like the Apple Newton?)
Re: Starting an Airline
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Interesting thought, could a newcomer have operated the LCY-JFK service with the same level of success? Or does it need BA's brand behind it to even get off the ground. P.S. Happy to see fellow aviation geeks here on HN
It's not just the BA brand though for business flights; it's the "enterprise deals" with the companies that are paying for the seat, the businessperson's preference for earning points they can redeem for a nice holiday, and the onward network for connections. I'm not sure in the case of LCY JFK the connection network is really a factor, but I think the other two things sunk MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet. (It probably did…
That flight really is all about O&D between two huge financial centers. But on the off chance someone actually wants to connect on this side of the pond, I guess they use the fact that JFK is an AA hub (which is in oneworld along with BA, as well as in the immunized TATL joint venture with them).
Re: Starting an Airline
#117Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's very strange given how necessary air travel is. It still surprises me how need and margins are inversely related (luxury goods have high margins, commodities low), but it makes sense. It's the price. The price of travel is so high for most consumers that they're going to optimize on price at the sacrifice of everything else. The cost of flying and operating an airline is so expensive that airlines also optimize…
Food is also necessary, but the margins on staple foods are razor thin. It's Econ 101: profits in competitive industries tend towards zero. The only way to make consistent economic profits is to focus on industries where there is (relatively) little competition. One way to do that is ride the wave of a new industry before the competitors have time to pile in. Another is to enter industries where product differentiati…
> wheat is wheat
Except when it is not. Soft red, soft white, hard red, etc. Grading, protein content, etc. All can change who is willing to buy the product, and more importantly, how much they are willing to pay.
Re: Starting an Airline
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you are able to design one that passes all FAA/EASA/CAA/ certifications, I think ALL airplane builders will hail you as their saviour. Not to mention the airlines ;-)
The seats sit on rails on the floor, so they can be swapped out or repositioned quite easily. Usually the Supplementary Type Certificate for each aircraft plans for this.
While being true, not all Seat configurations are automatically approved for operation. The swapping itself can - as mentioned - be performed overnight.
Re: Starting an Airline
#119One of my favorite childhood games was Aerobiz [1]. Probably not an accurate simulation of starting an airline, but that is what this submission made me think of. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobiz
Another good game - Simutrans - http://www.simutrans.com/en/
Re: Starting an Airline
#120It blows my mind how people start such big businesses. You must build an airport, hire stuff, buy planes, meet many legal requirements and so on, all costing tens of millions of dollars, and on top of that, it must be profitable. This gives some insight, but still it's terryfing. I feel so small.
> it must be profitable
The airline industry as a whole is not. It's lost about $60 billion since deregulation in 1978.