AIR - Air NZ.

[biker]

New routes next month, "profitable" from day one? I very much doubt that will be the case in the sense of profit as we shareholders would like it to be.
AIR will account these new routes in such a way that they may appear "profitable" but the enormous cost of setting up, introductory fares, people on the ground etc esp Buneo Aires as indicated in the article, in reality means that true profitability will take some time.
Luxon may be good but a magician he isn't.
The market still isn't convinced by the hype. Airlines cyclical? Luxon's mantra and fervent hope is that they used to be but " this time it's different, I've got this "
Well maestro, I hope your right.

[Beagle]

15 mainly local people on the ground in South America doesn't sound like a lot but I'll grant you that there were material establishment costs with these new routes and like any new venture with any other company some of these capex costs will be amortised and others expensed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and international financial reporting standards. I think its unfortunate that you imply that AIR will creatively account for those costs.

I think you will be very surprised how quickly AIR increase their frequency to South America and remember when they announce it you read it from me first...maybe a little birdie involved in the establishment of that route told me something very interesting just before the annual meeting (that was before you arrived Brend)

[winner69]

So we agree Argentina a great initiative - and will make real money

Back to how the executive team works then. There were 2 holdouts the paper says but they eventually came around to the accepting the idea. Hmm - those 2 have cost us a lot. Can't really reprimand them because obviously this executive team works democratically towards unanimous decisions.

One would need to speculate that maybe Luxon himself was one of these 'holdouts', was he not too keen on the idea?

Group think eventually prevailed and go ahead it is, even if not as soon as Jones wanted

[tony64peter]

Most interesting was his comment that AIR recently introduced a computerised roster system that for the first time gives crew flexibility to change their assignments to suit their personal lives, provided they can find someone else to swap with them. He said that as a result of this initiative the amount of "sick" leave taken has plummeted.

Happy crew usually means happy customers. Happy customers usually means a more profitable business.

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You must have been talking to a very junior crew member I'm told, probably midhaul on the A320 or 767. The rostering swap system has been around for years. The cabin crew only get one bid a year to select a duty and have very little control of their lifestyle, ie short trips as opposed to long trips. Osaka is probably one of the future destinations with Japanese economy improving.

[brend]

I'm tipping Vietnam and Thailand.

Thailand would be under a codeshare arrangement with Thai airways taking it to daily service.

[pierre]

You must have been talking to a very junior crew member I'm told, probably midhaul on the A320 or 767. The rostering swap system has been around for years. The cabin crew only get one bid a year to select a duty and have very little control of their lifestyle, ie short trips as opposed to long trips. Osaka is probably one of the future destinations with Japanese economy improving.

I was talking to a reasonably senior guy in the PE cabin on a 777-200. He indicated that there was now a great deal more flexibility for cabin crew and that it was a relatively recent change. The point being that fewer crew members were calling in "sick" for flights that they didn't want to take, with a consequential saving on labour costs for the airline.

No drama though - just one person's opinion - but one that seemed to indicate, along with his other comments, that positive changes were taking place inside the business.

[skid]

I'm tipping Vietnam and Thailand.

Thailand would be under a codeshare arrangement with Thai airways taking it to daily service.

That would be great for me ,but from having flown with both--If I bought a ticket with Thai and ended up on an Air NZ plane I would not be happy unless they have really upped their game in terms of comfort and service(compared to Thai)

I would think they would leave it at Bangkok,rather than incl Viet Nam which is very accessible with a multitude of other airlines incl. partners.

[Beagle]

Pretty sure skid they'll be using one of their new 787-9's on the new route and it'll have a flying time of less than 11 hours that way they can ratchet the utilisation of the new puppy up close to 22 hours a day and really make it earn its keep. According to feedback on www.seatguru.com they're being well received by the majority of pax.

[skid]

That would make it to BKK ok,although a 1 hr turnaround ,while possible is cutting it close--Im assuming you mentioned the new 787s in terms of better comfort.
Theres lots of competition to SE Asia but lots of people go as well (one of my favorite places)--Its become a good family destination-(not like the old days of only druggies and sex tourism)
Viet Nam now has a 2 week free Visa (as well as Indonesia)if they do end up going there.
I think these countries are starting to see the benefits Thailand gets with its 30 visa waiver (free) in terms of attracting tourism. Hopefully the rest will follow (Cambodia-Laos)

[Joshuatree]

Int Global Airline Stock Price Valuation Matrix at Craigs(On The Move) for those with access.. Re 23 airlines compared
AIR comes 7th re Implied return. Best D/Y by FAR. Craigs target price unchanged @ $3.40.