What with all the business with Ryanair and now monarch going bust, is this he beginning of the end of the budget airline?

There will be a few pilots on the job market this morning, maybe this is Ryanair’s saving grace.?

Op: no

Would you class monarch a budget airline?.

The so called budget airlines are still pumping out profit, which is what it’s all about. This fiasco with ryanair hasn’t even really affected their share price.

Monarch blaming the fall in popularity of Greece, Turkey and Egypt, as well as weak pound due to that Brexit fiasco.

Monarchs situation caused by that stupid referendum outcome last year.

neilsonwheels: I had the same thought driving in this morning!

They said last night that they had extended the period whereby you could still book with Monarch and remain protected through ABTA. My wife and I were a little confused as to how this would save them as no one would want to book with them knowing they were hours from going bust.

Nope, it’s a model that works for some people (who mostly then complain 😉 )
It also means the other airlines can drop crap routes and concentrate on what they are good at.

It is probably the end of badly run budget airlines ….

Prices last night were through the roof. Just said on the radio this is common to put people off booking prior to potential collapse while trying to look like they’re still ok.

bikebouy – Member
Monarchs situation caused by that stupid referendum outcome last year.

Of course it is …

It might be nice if it was the end of a budget airline treating their customers and staff like dirt, but I suspect that greedy/tight people will keep them running.

And then complain about the service they didn’t pay for.

There will be a few pilots on the job market this morning, maybe this is Ryanair’s saving grace.?

Short term, no.

Feeling for the people who’ve lost their jobs this morning. 🙁

It might be nice if it was the end of a budget airline treating their customers and staff like dirt, but I suspect that greedy/tight people will keep them running.

And then complain about the service they didn’t pay for.

I fly a lot with work, probably 50% budget airline 50% traditional full service airlines. I get treated like dirt in equal measure by both, at least the budget airlines are up front about it! I would have much more confidence in Ryanair getting me from A to B (with my luggage) than KLM, and for 30% of the price.

I get treated like dirt in equal measure by both, at least the budget airlines are up front about it! I would have much more confidence in Ryanair getting me from A to B (with my luggage) than KLM, and for 30% of the price.

For me the difference in Oz is absolute, the budgets here are not rude, just as minimal customer service as they can get away with – and most likely to be late. Virgin and Qantas are another level here compared to the cheap ones (and not much price difference a lot of the time)

mooman – Member
bikebouy – Member
Monarchs situation caused by that stupid referendum outcome last year.
Of course it is …

As a committed remoaner even I can’t blame this one on Brexit, entirely,

However, the fall in the £ was always going to hurt holiday companies

https://m.moodys.com/research-preview/Moodys-Pound-drop-from-Brexit-will-shake-UK-airlines-Airports–PR_361646?

Terror threat in Egypt or populist referendum in Britain, either way sucks for Monarch’s 2000+ staff now out of a job

I can, and do.

If you can’t see through it ask BloJo for some more lies.

However, the fall in the £ was always going to hurt holiday companies

It’s certainly plays a part. Couple higher prices with lower consumer confidence and sales are going to fall.

I can only base this on my friends and family, but no one has been on the classic package holiday to Spain or whatever for years. Few have tried, but being told by a overly cheery redcoat, that no, there hasn’t been a mistake and it is indeed £3500 for a week in a rough looking hotel in Costa Del Fleapit then suddenly remember France is lovely and that’s why they bought an estate / camper or if they’re feeling flush you can fly long haul for about that same money to somewhere with an economy even weaker than ours.

Monarch nearly went tits up last year. Not enough time for Brexit effect to have hit them that bad at the time. However it may have made things worse for them, along with other uncertainties and concerns in Europe.

On the plus side, all the locals complaining about tourists wherever it is that the cancelled flights were going, will be happy!

Whether Monarch would have survived long-term is open to debate, but the Brexit vote fallout undoubtedly hastened its demise. To argue otherwise is ridiculous.

Shame it wasn’t Ryanair.

Must be joking. They’re expanding at an ever faster rate and now going long haul. Pilot shortage is a concern and will be for the next 10 – 15 years. Ryanair have just been a bunch of to**ers and their woes are completely of their own making. I’m not sure what the issues at Monarch are, and they are not strictly low cost, and have been teetering on the edge for over 10 years and had many last second close escapes over recent years, so was inevitable they would go under at some point, unfortunately for their employees and customers now affected. Seems to me to be a more fundamental problem of their business practices. So nothing to do with the £ or the industry slowing down. Don’t forget – the weak £ is good for tourism. It attracts tourists into the UK. Airplanes don’t just take people out of the UK, they bring people in too. No airline or holiday company went bust due to currency fluctuations.

Monarchs main issue is it didn’t know what it was, it wasn’t a package holiday company and it wasn’t a budget airline. It was stuck in the middle and getting done from all angles.

It was in trouble far before the Brexit vote with bail outs saving it at the last minute. The weak pound won’t have helped but its main reason for the demise is the troubles in its most popular destinations.

wobbliscott – Member 
No airline or holiday company went bust due to currency fluctuations.

“Holiday booking company Lowcost Travelgroup has gone into administration, as uncertainty ahead of the EU referendum and the fall in the pound were blamed for its demise. “

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36810558

The writing has been on the wall for monarch for a few years, they were badly run, and struggled to get their flights in on time.

Brexit (or more specifically the weak pound) wont have helped , but its far from the main factor.

I gave up using them about 4 years ago, due to many many long delays. I used to prefer them to ryanair et al,because their staff are generally pleasant. BUt pleasant staff only go so far if you cant get a flight to land on time.

I used to have a gold loyalty card with them I used them that much.

I book a lot of flights per year, and even if monarch were significantly cheaper than the rest, it wouldnt persuade me to use them. I’d only use them if they were the only airline flying to the destination,purely because of their history (with me at least) in delays.

Grailing this morning calling the situation “unprecedented” well better get your finger out Grailing and BloJo and go get those ‘000’s of holiday makers back.

Bloody awful, bad enough sitting around an airport due to delays never mind having to deal with the whole uncertainty of no flights at all and only a bunch of halfwits calling out its “unprecedented”

Jeeze, situations like this boil my preverbal honestly they do.

Still, its all over the News so at least the finger pointing and back stabbing can be seen.

I used to prefer them to ryanair et al,because their staff are generally pleasant.

Seriously? Do you pick train or bus companies on how cheery the drivers are?.

Convenience, price and reliability are way ahead of pleasant staff.

The weak pound won’t have helped but its main reason for the demise is the troubles in its most popular destinations.

Spain & Portugal make up 80% of its bookings according to CEO these have been affected by ‘decreasing yields’

Seriously? Do you pick train or bus companies on how cheery the drivers are?.

Convenience, price and reliability are way ahead of pleasant staff.

If you read the rest of my post you will also see

“BUt pleasant staff only go so far if you cant get a flight to land on time.”

Hence why I havent used them for 4 years. They used to have pleasant staff AND be able to get a flight in on time. but in recent years as you note, they have not been able to get a flight in on time, so they got dropped by me

Spain & Portugal make up 80% of its bookings according to CEO these have been affected by ‘decreasing yields’

They might have made up that in recent times but thats down to the demise of other very popular destinations.

Since the low cost airline revolution Monarch has been a lame horse limping along with the original owners having to pump hunderds of millions into it to keep it going.

Seriously? Do you pick train or bus companies on how cheery the drivers are?.

Convenience, price and reliability are way ahead of pleasant staff.
Flying a lot the costs are not that far apart most of the time, add in the budgets here seem to have worse seats, less space, constant selling crap announcements, bad loading process etc. on top of that after a long week being spoken to like a customer not a problem make a massive difference.

Edit, it’s all irrelevant, best of luck to all poor buggers that’ve lost their jobs or holidays.

I don’t often fly but, as it happens I have to go to Strasbourg in a couple of weeks from Nantes. I’ve booked Volotea as Hop! the Air France subsidiary is insanely expensive. The breakdown of the 19€ ticket is: Fare -9,54€, Taxes 28,02€ – Nett 18,48€ on the whole booking there’s an admin fee of 3,08 split over 2 pax return flights and I paid by Credit Card for no extra charge! For the life of me I can’t see how this is sustainable long term 😯

Apart from that, Monarch used to be a good carrier, sorry to see them go and sorry for all those affected.

Monarch first reported a loss in 2009.

Wasn’t this largely inevitable after the Turkish coup?

It can hardly be coincidence that this has happened the weekend that Spain seems to have reverted to the Franco model of governance.

What they needed was a decent USP:

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IA5E1fPvWQY[/video]

Was due to fly with them to Barcelona in a couple of weeks. Alternative flights are running out fast though!

kimbers – Member
The weak pound won’t have helped but its main reason for the demise is the troubles in its most popular destinations.
Spain & Portugal make up 80% of its bookings according to CEO these have been affected by ‘decreasing yields’

POSTED 21 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

Monarch commented on the lack of customers holidaying in Turkey, Egypt and Greece. These places have had bad PR last couple years with pictures in media of migrants washing up on the beach, coups and terrorism in North Africa.
If Monarch have been 80% into the Spanish and Portugal market it’s easy to see why they have lost money … its very silly and desperate to try and blame this on Brexit; but I guess some people …

Monarchs situation caused by that stupid referendum outcome last year.

FFS !

Monarch’s focus was on Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey. As those markets collapsed in the wake of terrorism they tried to compete in Europe but in the face of established players like RyanAir amd Easyjet they struggled amd went bust

its very silly and desperate to try and blame this on Brexit; but I guess some people …

If you’re paying hotels, drivers, reps, airport workers, airport fees, navigation fees etc in Euros, then the plummeting pound will obviously affect your bottom line.

Flap the move in the pound is pretty small and hedgable. Monarch has gone bust as its core markets to North Africa and Middle East have collapsed

straight from the horses mouth, cause was not brexit:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41481661

chief exec says :-

“The root cause is terrorism and the closure of some markets like Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt,” which led to more competition in Spain and Portugal.