Kyledychchi
Member
Potentially AF with Virgin for Air France/KLM who own a stake in the business along with Delta
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Big air travel shake-up for UK visitors flying to Orlando
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Q_Division
Member
That deal didn't go through but you're right they do codeshare.
No - that's BA. They're joint venture and alliance partners.
Virgin Atlantic codeshares with Delta, and they also have their own joint venture.
Oh, Norwegian is f____d. I mean, that with the pricing - their flight loads were full, but they weren't making much money on LGW-MCO routes; and BA/Virgin had to react in kind to keep that business.
esskay
Well-Known Member
From memory Virgin hasn't actually turned a profit for a few years now, altho the losses arent 'huge' in the grand scale of things (around £50 million IIRC).
I initially thought Norweigan were a certain to go bust but they just got a $1bn investment to prop them up - they were profitable on their long haul routes so I guess they'll be ok for now.
Virgins issue was that they needed to raise £500 million to survive. Given the 747s were being retitred anyway, bringing that forward so they can sell them might be where they've gone with this. No idea what a second hand 747 goes for but would assume it will be enough to cover their losses - they'll still have a long lease of life as cargo planes so probably arent just going to be scrapped.
Out of all their international routes though I'd have said MCO has to be one of the safest. They sell an awful lot of package holidays to Florida, and have direct partnerships with Disney and Uni. It'll be scaled back no doubt.
One thing that was telling is that whilst they cut 3500 jobs, they employ 10,000 people. So this isn't a move to wind the operations up, and I bet most of that 3500 were sales people. They've got about 70 travel agents across the UK, and a couple of call centres.
Trekkie101
Well-Known Member
Only the upper crew come with the flight, since MCO has been 3/4 weekly out of GLA, they have GLA based crew, one of my friends is cabin crew for them at GLA - we both live in Fife.
Before lockdown, she got summoned for cross training on the A350. It's worth remembering the positioning flights come from Gatwick for the most part, not Manchester.
You can see the training and positioning flights on the VS source site to verify.
biggy H
Well-Known Member
Nope, no crew base at GLA and they only flew 2x weekly (Fridays and Saturdays) for a short time during the summer otherwise it was 1x weekly with a break during winter. I work at GLA and know the ground ops people who all work for other companies, some also work for the same company as myself. All the crew positioned up, either from Manchester (most times) or Gatwick, no crew based at Glasgow at all. Considering the A350's where originally going to replace the 747s then crew would be cross trained but it does not alter the fact that Virgin have no base at Glasgow, crew or otherwise. Oh and I was working when the A350's where flying in and out of GLA.
nickys
Premium Member
This is too little, too late anyway. Sorry about your holiday but hopefully you’ll be able to reschedule.
But to be honest the US haven’t lifted travel restrictions yet either, and even when they do there could a be quarantine period.
Trekkie101
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure why you're so adamant about this, when the facts are literally public. This isn't insider information.
Swissport do the Virgin Atlantic ground handling but VS have their cabin crew deployed for the aircraft. Ground handling is not the same as air crew.
The flight positions as VS71P, you can check the history of them on the VS source: http://thevssource.com/?s=VS71P
There are Glasgow based Virgin Atlantic cabin crew. You can see one commented on this article where they announce their staff are working at the Nightingale in London, with them asking if they can help in Glasgow since they work/live there. I'll happily ping a mod with proof of my friends working and being cabin crew at GLA too.
Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet employees to staff Nightingale Hospitals – Business Traveller
The two carriers are writing to around 13,000 currently out of work employees to ask them to consider helping at the temporary critical care field hospitals…
www.businesstraveller.com
Virgin for the last few seasons start the 4 a week service on the 747, running Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday in May and end in November. Last year they deployed the A332 to bring ops constant until February this year. Pull up a public schedule and take a look.
Likewise you can get Irn Bru only on an outbound GLA flight in the UK, but usually not on return as they switch aircraft in MCO. It's loaded specifically in Scotland as part of their local service.
biggy H
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure why you're so adamant about this, when the facts are literally public. This isn't insider information.
Swissport do the Virgin Atlantic ground handling but VS have their cabin crew deployed for the aircraft. Ground handling is not the same as air crew.
The flight positions as VS71P, you can check the history of them on the VS source: http://thevssource.com/?s=VS71P
There are Glasgow based Virgin Atlantic cabin crew. You can see one commented on this article where they announce their staff are working at the Nightingale in London, with them asking if they can help in Glasgow since they work/live there. I'll happily ping a mod with proof of my friends working and being cabin crew at GLA too.
Virgin Atlantic and Easyjet employees to staff Nightingale Hospitals – Business Traveller
The two carriers are writing to around 13,000 currently out of work employees to ask them to consider helping at the temporary critical care field hospitals…
Virgin for the last few seasons start the 4 a week service on the 747, running Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday in May and end in November. Last year they deployed the A332 to bring ops constant until February this year. Pull up a public schedule and take a look.
Likewise you can get Irn Bru only on an outbound GLA flight in the UK, but usually not on return as they switch aircraft in MCO. It's loaded specifically in Scotland as part of their local service.
There are crew who live in Glasgow, I used to see then quite often positioning down to and from Gatwick on the BA flights but Virgin does not have a base at Glasgow, the crew all position up to operate the flights and are either Gatwick or Manchester based. I know as I used to talk to them frequently at work.
The Mighty Tim
Well-Known Member
Virgin Altantic will fly to MCO from LHR in Summer 2021 according to this site: https://onemileatatime.com/virgin-atlantic-summer-2021-schedule/
Not sure how many flights per day though.
MAN-MCO will still run and GLA-MCO is a seasonal route (not sure if it is now TBH).
Not sure how many flights per day though.
MAN-MCO will still run and GLA-MCO is a seasonal route (not sure if it is now TBH).
Any word on the dates? We're scheduled to fly to the UK in July, but not if it's 2 weeks quarantined.
Santa Raccoon 77
Thank you sir. You were an inspiration.
nickys
Premium Member
Coronavirus: Quarantine plans for UK arrivals unveiled
From 8 June, people arriving in the UK must self-isolate for 14 days - but some workers will be exempt.
www.bbc.co.uk
Kyledychchi
Member
Anyone received flight changes from Virgin yet ? Those flying from LGW.
The Mighty Tim
Well-Known Member
Not yet. Apparently I'm still flying from LGW to MCO in September (though I'm almost certainly going to reschedule the whole trip anyway)
Kyledychchi
Member
You and me both ! I’m in the same boat, flying in Sept but going to reschedule. I won’t find out next years annual leave entitlement until December though which makes it a bit harder to find out dates but I’ve got a plan or two in my head.