rapidex

BA are currently trying to justify to the CAA why they need 9 aircraft for 2 months to cover a 2 week strike by a portion of the Cabin Crew.They are not providing much detail as to what tasks the aircraft will perform at the end of the strike.

Lack of crew to perform the required manning levels in peak summer period does not constitute exceptional circumstances.The CAA has very real concerns that BA are using this strike as an excuse to bring non European aircraft and crew to cover the flights that the airline couldn't crew due to the training resources being overstretched.

BA will need to put forward some convincing arguments to get this deal.

Worcester

list price for an A320 is $90 million (of which buyers of large numbers are going to get a significant discount) if I held more shares in BA I would be calling for this to be checked that it's an arms length transaction on commercial terms.

ahmetdouas

The level of financial miscalculations I'm seeing on this thread is amazing!


Wetlease pays for :

Plane
Depreciation of the plane
Insurance
Crew + all their expenses
Food
Fuel
Landing fees
God knows what else.

Why are you comparing it to the price of an Airbus A320?

surryson

The aircraft will be going back to DOH at the end of the strike, I'd have thought?

rapidex

Then why is BA trying to lease them for 9 weeks instead of 2 weeks?BA is saying the aircraft will return after 9 weeks,but being reticent on what they will do after the strike ends.They will not have parking spaces at LHR for 9,and I would bet BA wont want to pay the parking charges either.

tinkicker

You wouldn't leave them at LHR but a short transit will get you to plenty of cheap places to stash the aircraft until it's next needed and then send the crew home on a schedule.

On a deal like this they will be flying routes BA normally operate so BA will already have contracts for landing and handling, fuel, airways charges, food etc etc. So really the only "charge" from Qatar is likely to be based on Aircraft, Crew, Maintenance and Insurance (better known as ACMI).

The IAG ownership aspect and the disruption in the ME (meaning these aircraft would otherwise be parked) makes this a difficult deal to price and suggests the market spot rates are not a great guide. Other than thinking some of the more outlandish figures feel way off I'm not sure if BA will be paying $3,000 or $10,000 a flight hour.

Overall BA clearly feel it is worth it and I'd expect the aircraft to be parked around Europe until the end of the summer and possibly longer if the strike mandate carries on and the situation in the ME remains unresolved.

surryson

So if the latter is true then surely you're contradicting your original post?

Theres been significant discussion on rules and regs already. Perhaps 2 months is minimum (or maximum) that can be applied for exemption on some of the legislation. Finally, I wouldn't think that QR would tie themselves to a 2 month deal and leave themselves hamstrung if the current political scene in Middle East changes.

Time will tell.

rapidex

Not really.If BA are trying to circumvent the rules on exceptional circumstances by leasing 9 aircraft for way longer than the strike,to cover for their own inability to train sufficient pilots for the required amount of work

Some of the objections to this deal revolve around the Pilots hours,and what they have available on their annual 900 hours.In some quarters the suggestion is the mixed fleet strike is being used as a convenient smoke screen to cover for the shortage of available pilots hours,rather than its stated reason.

Jumbodriver

There is a actually surplus of pilots on the 320 at Heathrow at the moment. I'm not sure where this rumour came from but it's utter rubbish.

There are only 2 pilots on a fleet of 1000 that have flown over 800 hrs in the 11 months to the start of August. Since nobody can legally fly more than 100 hrs in a month the maths is quite straightforward.

The only reason the application is for longer is to cater for any further strikes over the summer when other lease capacity is tight.
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Calchas

That should be a separate request under Article 13(3)(b)(ii) "seasonal capacity", not (i) "exceptional need", from my reading.

I have put in an objection, largely predicated on the fact that the wetleasing exemption under Recital 8 seems to be focused around a shortage of aircraft in the EEA, not a shortage of staff. Let's see what happens.

rapidex

They can of course fly more than 100 hours in 31 day months like july and august,depending on their previous rosters,and that can be further increased by popping in for a quick medical.

710 77345

Thanks for the feedback, I suggest we all tell the CAA our views using the link on the first page.

The union should be getting people to do the same

Airprox

BA have plenty of parking space for 9 A320/A321s in the Bealine Base and No.1 Mx area and there are no parking charges there, so they could easily keep them for a couple of months over the summer peak period in case of further strikes.

Jumbodriver

Where is this 9 weeks coming from anyway? The application could not be in any way clearer about it being for a fortnight and then for any other strike periods up to 2 months.

theox

I wonder if QR crews will wear BA uniform...!!? Actually not sure how that works!