Virgin Atlantic Looks to Go Public
Sir Richard Branson’s controlling stake in Virgin Atlantic is in jeopardy as the airline’s plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange were revealed over the weekend.
The news comes just a few months after Virgin Atlantic was the beneficiary of a £160m capital injection, and would be the first time it has sold shares to the public since 1984. The airline is currently majority-owned (51%) by Sir Richard’s Virgin Group but would see that change in the potential IPO. The remaining 49% of the airline is owned by Delta, which would see its ownership stake reduced as well despite its offer of 2 billion SkyMiles to retain its full 49% ownership share. Unfortunately for Delta, the cash value of the 2 billion SkyMiles came out to just $47.
The airline is considering the IPO to open more future capital raising opportunities while also taking advantage of the pent-up demand for international travel, especially between the United States and UK.. The airline needs the cash from the IPO to build a Virgin Clubhouse on the moon for passengers hoping to connect to Virgin Galactic for outer space travel, but still insist on elite benefits even in another galaxy.
Frontier Next to Require Staff to be Vaccinated
Frontier Airlines announced it will require all full-time employees to be vaccinated by October 1, but unlike United’s announcement, it will not threaten non-vaccinated employees with termination. Employees who decline the vaccine (regardless of reason) will be subject to regular COVID-19 testing and will be responsible for photographing animals in their natural habitat who are auditioning for the tail of a future Frontier aircraft.
The airline says most of its staff are vaccinated but declined to give specific numbers – similar to its fare buying process.
Frontier is also promoting vaccinations to its passengers – sort of. The airline amended its “Friends Fly Free” companion pass program to “Friends with Vaccines Fly Free,” with the only catch being that the promotion is on the honor system. The discount code produced for the promo is available to all of Frontier’s Discount Den members regardless of vaccination status.
Delta Makes Same-Day Standby Free
Delta Air Lines will now permit flyers to stand by for an earlier flight on the same day as originally booked for free, regardless of status with the airline. Previously, same-day standby cost $75 for non-status and Silver Medallion customers – which makes sense because having silver status on Delta is basically the same thing as non-status.
To take advantage of the new policy, passengers can request to stand by if same-day confirmed is not available and provided it’s within 24 hours of your departure time. New flights must depart on the same day as your original flight and must be prior to the original departure time unless you’re gold or above.
Both same-day standby and confirmed are available in the Delta App, at the airport, or by calling Delta and waiting four to eight hours for an agent. Unfortunately, for those who call in to stand by, it’s likely that both the earlier flight and their original flight will both take off and land in the time it takes to get an agent on the phone.
Same-day confirmed changes will still cost $75 for Silver Medallion and non-elite members on the airline.
Cathay Pacific to Introduce Economy and Business Light Fares
Cathay Pacific will introduce a new fare structure that “enhances” customers purchasing options with Basic fares in both economy and business class. The fares will be rolled out at different times in different markets – the airline was tight lipped about any other details on when the new fares would be implemented because it knows if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything at all.
Despite the silent treatment, the new fares are expected to eventually make their way to all of Cathay’s routes with the exception of flights to New Zealand and the Americas.
Economy light – previously known as Economy Save – will see its checked bag allowance drop from 66 pounds to one single bag that cannot exceed 50 pounds. The light fare will not include seat selection or upgrades payable with Asia Miles. Business Save fares will be rebranded as Business Light, but will actually see an increase in baggage allowance – to two bags at 50 pounds each while they will also come without pre-flight seat selection or access to an on-board restroom. They will also only be permitted to eat the western meal.
BA’s Mexico Flights Beat Red List Deadline Just in Time
Last Tuesday, UK Transport secretary Grant Shapps announced that Mexico would be added to the UK’s red list, requiring 10 days of quarantine for anyone returning to the UK from the country, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status.
The policy was set to be enforced beginning at 4 a.m. on Sunday morning, August 8. This left just four days for Brits in Mexico to race home, and for BA to match the demand with flights to operate.. There was no warning that Mexico could be added to the UK’s red list, catching travelers by surprise – all while they were thousands of miles from home.
BA began extra flights to get customers back to the UK as quickly as Thursday, and it moved up its Saturday departures from both Mexico City and Cancun by several hours to arrive prior to the 4 a.m. deadline. Several cut it very close, with one flight being forced to divert to Gatwick due to Heathrow’s curfew. BA2202 from Mexico City was originally scheduled for a 9 a.m. arrival into Heathrow, but ended up landing six hours early at 2:40 a.m., just 80 minutes before the change in rules.
Had the flight landed after the 4 a.m. deadline, UK citizens and permanent residents on the flight would have been subject to a 10-day quarantine — which shows the pure ridiculousness of it all — while non-Brits would be deported back to Mexico, which, if they came from a resort wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
- Air Astana is being investigated by Kazakhstan’s consumer watchdog agency.
- Air Mauritius is laying off 18 pilots, and an additional 1,300 jobs are currently at risk.
- China Southern is divesting itself of its B747 freighter fleet.
- Delta is ending domestic SkyClub access for Virgin Velocity Gold and Platinum members effective September 1.
- French Bee will move the technical stop on its flights between Paris/Orly and Papeete (PPT) to Toronto/Pearson through October 4. After that date, the stop will return to Vancouver.
- Iraqi Airways is suspending flights to Minsk but not for the reason you think… it’s due to a surge of illegal migration to Lithuania and other countries via Belarus.
- Philippines AirAsia is leading all Philippine airlines in requesting a waiver extension exempting carriers from airport and landing fees.
- SpiceJet is having to dill with legal actions after the airline defaulted on paying its fees to the Airports Authority of India, missing the payment deadline thyme after thyme. The airline mint to meet its obligations, but didn’t caraway enough to get it done.
- TAP and the Portuguese government have been given one month to defend the $3.7 billion in aid given to the airline which does not meet EU regulations. Ryanair is somewhere smugly reading the decision while nodding its head.
What did one eye say to the other eye?
Between you and me, something smells.