Monarch Cease Trading

[theageofthetra]

I also got caught up in the Zoom collapse and I got my money back quickly even though it was a debit, not a credit card. It was a Santander Visa Debit card.

Yes to be fair the Visa debit scheme is not bad. Unfortunately most consumers are blissfully unaware of the different protection or lack of provided by the various card providers.

 

[theageofthetra]

Not necessarily if those routes can be run with lower fares than Monarch were charging and/or interworked with a carriers existing routes.

Didn't they have a lot of staff on old well paid & great T & C's union contracts like BA etc?

 

[CC 72100]

I'm guessing it is much easier to be a budget carrier right from the off with T&Cs to match, than to turn into a budget airline in terms of ticket prices and a 'on the way to budget airline but higher costs from a past life' cost for crews etc.

 

[cactustwirly]

I reckon IAG will buy the planes and some of the slots at Manchester and Birmingham.
Therefore expanding their operations there, at the moment the selection of destinations (served by BA) are quite poor.

 

[WestCoast]

I'm guessing it is much easier to be a budget carrier right from the off with T&Cs to match, than to turn into a budget airline in terms of ticket prices and a 'on the way to budget airline but higher costs from a past life' cost for crews etc.

Definitely, although Monarch was really a budget airline from a bygone era i.e. a leisure charter airline from the days when far fewer people travelled without a package to a beach/ski holiday or even city break. Monarch was set up by Cosmos Tours who would have really set the flying programme.

I remember their A300s which were the equivalent of flying on a class 350/2 or 450 in terms of ambience and comfort. Sure, you maybe got fed and they showed a film but it was still a pile them high sell them cheap type operation. They did introduce 'Monarch Scheduled' with 'Crown Service' in the early 2000s which was supposedly a more premium offering as charter was always associated with less frills (and delays), so flight only went more upmarket.

Personally though, I think the main issue was that they were not backed by a major tour operator. Cosmos (the original tour operator portion) and Monarch went separate ways in 2014 and Monarch was heavily reliant on flight only. I think this is a dangerous place to be for that type of carrier, Jet2 even set up their own full package tours offering Jet2Holidays (a proper operator with reps etc) which shields them from the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair who don't offer that but allows them compete against Thomson, Thomas Cook etc.

I know people like to think the package holiday is dead etc but I do think they still carry a certain amount of influence in the one week on the beach market...

 

[WestCoast]

I reckon IAG will buy the planes and some of the slots at Manchester and Birmingham.
Therefore expanding their operations there, at the moment the selection of destinations (served by BA) are quite poor.

Would like to be proved wrong but don't see it with the slots. The weekend BA Cityflyer flights work well from Manchester/Birmingham etc because the aircraft can't be used at London City at those times. Now that Monarch is gone, BA or Vueling could organically expand at those airports if they wanted, they're not heavily slot restricted especially Birmingham. It's Gatwick and Heathrow that suffer problems with that.

 

[Chester1]

Would like to be proved wrong but don't see it with the slots. The weekend BA Cityflyer flights work well from Manchester/Birmingham etc because the aircraft can't be used at London City at those times. Now that Monarch is gone, BA or Vueling could organically expand at those airports if they wanted, they're not heavily slot restricted especially Birmingham. It's Gatwick and Heathrow that suffer problems with that.

I agree. BA is not interested in Manchester or Birmingham. They only opperate flights to feed their long haul Heathrow flights or using aircraft that are spare. When BA bought BMI they cut all their domestic flights into Heathrow and used the landing slots for long haul flights. Monarchs landing slots at Luton, Stansted and Manchester won't be worth much unless they are at peak times. The Gatwick slots will be in demand though, for instance Norwegian might be interested in using them for more budget long haul flights.

 

[freetoview33]

I have made a list of routes that Monarch covered which are now unserved they are:

Birmingham - Lisbon
Birmingham - Stockholm
Birmingham - Gibraltar
Birmingham - Nice
Birmingham - Preveza
Birmingham - Valencia
Birmingham - Venice

Manchester - Kittila
Manchester - Zagreb

Luton - Gibraltar
Luton - Eilat-Ovda

Gatwick - Zagreb

 

[WestCoast]

I have made a list of routes that Monarch covered which are now unserved they are:

Birmingham - Lisbon
Birmingham - Stockholm
Birmingham - Gibraltar
Birmingham - Nice
Birmingham - Preveza
Birmingham - Valencia
Birmingham - Venice

Manchester - Kittila
Manchester - Zagreb

Luton - Gibraltar
Luton - Eilat-Ovda

Gatwick - Zagreb

Apparently Birmingham will lose 15% of its weekly seats offered and Gibraltar nearly 40%, which must be prompting a few other airlines to take a look.

Source: http://www.anna.aero/2017/10/02/mon...s-eighth-largest-airline-goes-administration/

 

[pemma]

Apparently Birmingham will lose 15% of its weekly seats offered and Gibraltar nearly 40%, which must be prompting a few other airlines to take a look.

Source: http://www.anna.aero/2017/10/02/mon...s-eighth-largest-airline-goes-administration/

Easyjet reduced the number of Gibraltar flights they operated as they weren't getting enough passengers, while at the same time Monarch were introducing more Gibraltar flights.

 

[pemma]

Definitely, although Monarch was really a budget airline from a bygone era i.e. a leisure charter airline from the days when far fewer people travelled without a package to a beach/ski holiday or even city break. Monarch was set up by Cosmos Tours who would have really set the flying programme.

I remember their A300s which were the equivalent of flying on a class 350/2 or 450 in terms of ambience and comfort. Sure, you maybe got fed and they showed a film but it was still a pile them high sell them cheap type operation. They did introduce 'Monarch Scheduled' with 'Crown Service' in the early 2000s which was supposedly a more premium offering as charter was always associated with less frills (and delays), so flight only went more upmarket.

Personally though, I think the main issue was that they were not backed by a major tour operator. Cosmos (the original tour operator portion) and Monarch went separate ways in 2014 and Monarch was heavily reliant on flight only. I think this is a dangerous place to be for that type of carrier, Jet2 even set up their own full package tours offering Jet2Holidays (a proper operator with reps etc) which shields them from the likes of EasyJet and Ryanair who don't offer that but allows them compete against Thomson, Thomas Cook etc.

I know people like to think the package holiday is dead etc but I do think they still carry a certain amount of influence in the one week on the beach market...

Travelling with Monarch earlier this year in one direction I got a Airbus which had an interior equivalent to the standard of a typical Northern Rail train and in the other direction a refurbished Airbus with an interior equivalent to the standard of an EMT 158. I also found it strange at check-in for the outbound flight I was asked about seat preference, while on the return flight (despite being one of the first to check in) I wasn't.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Desk check in? How quaint.

Possibly an airline with high costs due to having failed to modernise?

 

[pemma]

Desk check in? How quaint.

Possibly an airline with high costs due to having failed to modernise?

Online check-in was available but not for passengers who had booked a flight+hotel package, even when package was booked through Monarch. In contrast I was able to use online check-in to check in for an Air Transat flight even when I'd booked a flight+hotel package through Expedia.

 

[gsnedders]

Would like to be proved wrong but don't see it with the slots. The weekend BA Cityflyer flights work well from Manchester/Birmingham etc because the aircraft can't be used at London City at those times. Now that Monarch is gone, BA or Vueling could organically expand at those airports if they wanted, they're not heavily slot restricted especially Birmingham. It's Gatwick and Heathrow that suffer problems with that.

Why can't they be used at LCY at those times?

 

[cactustwirly]

Desk check in? How quaint.

Possibly an airline with high costs due to having failed to modernise?

I can't remember the last time I used desk check in, I didn't realise airlines still had them, at Heathrow & Gatwick they are all bag drop desks.

With BA you can also have your boarding pass on your phone instead of a paper version.

 

[pemma]

I can't remember the last time I used desk check in, I didn't realise airlines still had them, at Heathrow & Gatwick they are all bag drop desks.

Do Heathrow and Gatwick staff direct anyone arriving without a boarding pass to a self check-in terminal? I found Lisbon airport was like that - annoyingly the airline I was flying with didn't let you check-in online until something like 48 hours before the flight, so while I checked in online for the outbound flight, I wasn't able to for the return flight - without asking the hotel to print off a boarding card for whoever much they would charge to do it.

 

[cactustwirly]

Do Heathrow and Gatwick staff direct anyone arriving without a boarding pass to a self check-in terminal? I found Lisbon airport was like that - annoyingly the airline I was flying with didn't let you check-in online until something like 48 hours before the flight, so while I checked in online for the outbound flight, I wasn't able to for the return flight - without asking the hotel to print off a boarding card for whoever much they would charge to do it.

Something like that, BA have a mixture of self service and manned desks.
easyJet and Norwegian have fully self service with people milling around to help, I think the machines can print off a boarding pass for free.

If you fly from an American airport, you have to use the boarding pass they print off for you.

 

[AlterEgo]

Why can't they be used at LCY at those times?

LCY is closed every weekend from noon Saturday to noon Sunday. So that's a "dead" 24h Cityflyer can be using their aircraft elsewhere.

 

[freetoview33]

Following Monarch Airlines’ entry into administration, the Israel ministry of tourism is inviting flight operators to tender in operating direct flights from the UK to Eilat, Israel.

 

[freetoview33]

Birmingham - Lisbon
Birmingham - Stockholm
Birmingham - Gibraltar
Birmingham - Nice
Birmingham - Preveza
Birmingham - Valencia

Manchester - Kittila
Manchester - Zagreb

Luton - Gibraltar
Luton - Eilat-Ovda

Gatwick - Zagreb

Birmingham - Venice is being taken on by Jet2 so that's one less route unserved. Also Luton - Eilat-Ovda is being retendered.

 

[LOL The Irony]

Monarch was going down the toilet for years. I thought they'd at least make the arrival of the 737's tho.

 

[daikilo]

If it is true that only 5% of passengers were on holiday packages then their transition to seat only was nearly complete. Unfortunately, they seem to have used all their funds, and maybe more, in the process! I suspect many of their flights had a low percentage of holiday packages and they were unable to sell remaining seats at break-even or above. It was a brave attempt to transition ... but I suspect they were terminal sometime in the spring.

 

[cactustwirly]

If it is true that only 5% of passengers were on holiday packages then their transition to seat only was nearly complete. Unfortunately, they seem to have used all their funds, and maybe more, in the process! I suspect many of their flights had a low percentage of holiday packages and they were unable to sell remaining seats at break-even or above. It was a brave attempt to transition ... but I suspect they were terminal sometime in the spring.

They couldn't get enough scheduled passengers, going to fully scheduled was their downfall, there was no way they could compete with Ryanair and easyJet.

 

[AlterEgo]

I’m at Newquay Airport and I can see at least three Monarch aircraft parked in various remote areas of the airfield. I’ve no doubt these will be snapped up by other airlines soon.

What happened to all the staff?

 

[pemma]

I’m at Newquay Airport and I can see at least three Monarch aircraft parked in various remote areas of the airfield. I’ve no doubt these will be snapped up by other airlines soon.

What happened to all the staff?

Most staff will have been made redundant. With airlines like Jet2 securing ex-Monarch slots I imagine some of the redundant staff will be able to find new employment working for another airlines. VTEC have been trying to recruit cabin crew staff to retrain as on board train staff - I don't know how successful that approach will be.

 

[Mojo]

What happened to all the staff?

How many of the staff would have been permanent on their books, but only contracted to work over the summer? I know someone who is an air hostess for Thomson and needs to find what they call a "winter job" every year, as they are only contracted to fly (full time) between May and October I think it is.

Given that Monarch latterly only flew short haul, whereas Thomson (Tui) have a number of all year round long haul routes plus seem a bit more dynamic in exploring winter destinations (e.g. flights to Iceland), would a lot of their staff have been expecting to be out of work shortly anyway, albeit temporarily? I know Monarch had all year round routes, but still would have thought there would been a big drop in their schedules like Thomson seem to have?