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WOW air discussion thread

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13

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    #62
    faoiarvok
    Registered Users Posts: 644 ✭✭✭faoiarvok


    SimpleLogic wrote: »
    Any chance this could free up some planes which Norwegian could rent, to accommodate the grounded boeing 737's?

    It’s an all-Airbus fleet, so they couldn’t operate them themselves. Simpler to wet lease from an established operator, which they haven’t done thus far for whatever reasons.


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    #63
    Locker10a
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 4,145 Mod ✭✭✭✭Locker10a


    SimpleLogic wrote: »
    Any chance this could free up some planes which Norwegian could rent, to accommodate the grounded boeing 737's?

    Norwegian don’t operate an airbus themselves so no.
    Anyway, the a320/1 that wow had leased wouldn’t have the range to replace the MAX that Norwegian have.
    Wows fleet were all leased, so the owners of those aircraft will simply deploy them to new customers whom I’m sure are lined up


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    #64
    Locker10a
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 4,145 Mod ✭✭✭✭Locker10a


    faoiarvok wrote: »
    It’s an all-Airbus fleet, so they couldn’t operate them themselves. Simpler to wet lease from an established operator, which they haven’t done thus far for whatever reasons.

    Norwegian are going through a cost restructuring called “Focus 2019” to try and salvage themselves from a fate similar to wow.
    So they’re probably seriously restricting themselves on paying out for expensive wetlease contracts.


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    #65
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,295 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Shall be booking flights to Toronto soon; would have avoided WOW because of this thread, but how are Norwegian, as they're doing flights for cheap enough.

    May go with BA, as their flights are cheap'ish, but probably less likely to go down the drain before August.


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    #66
    Brennus335
    Registered Users Posts: 168 ✭✭Brennus335


    Nijmegen wrote: »
    We'll see Alex Macheras all over the media now today. Man is like the grim reaper of airline failures - Insta-stories in rapid succession with "exclusive" and "breaking" details of the failure and not one fig given for the staff affected. I hope passengers get where they need to go and that the staff find themselves back in a job somewhere ASAP.

    Called him out a few times on his Twitter feed for inaccurate and sensationalist bullsh1t stories.

    He responded by blocking me.


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    #67
    Nijmegen
    Registered Users Posts: 3,086 ✭✭✭Nijmegen


    Brennus335 wrote: »
    Called him out a few times on his Twitter feed for inaccurate and sensationalist bullsh1t stories.

    He responded by blocking me.

    Strikes me as a rich kid with contacts who suddenly appeared a prepackaged product with no actual life experience. The latter really tells when he gets to reporting on these airline failures, when Monarch went he was reporting "exclusively" in breathless instagram videos before the staff had been fully informed. One thing for a journo to get the story early, quite another when the guy reporting it seems most excited about having the news first and that's the context you're wading through as an employee.


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    #68
    Locker10a
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 4,145 Mod ✭✭✭✭Locker10a


    the_syco wrote: »
    Shall be booking flights to Toronto soon; would have avoided WOW because of this thread, but how are Norwegian, as they're doing flights for cheap enough.

    May go with BA, as their flights are cheap'ish, but probably less likely to go down the drain before August.

    I’ve a few friends at Norwegian and think they’re a nice company, but sadly I personally wouldn’t book any flights with them. They were in bad enough shape abs now with the MAX grounding who knows what will happen to those Canada flights


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    #69
    BelovedAunt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 803 ✭✭✭BelovedAunt


    Lads I have flights booked with them for June. Any chance of getting money back through travel insurance?


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    #70
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    BelovedAunt wrote: »
    Lads I have flights booked with them for June. Any chance of getting money back through travel insurance?

    If you booked with a credit card go to them first.


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    #71
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users Posts: 3,464 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    Wow's pricing model was very strange.

    Often I saw them selling flights with basic fares (not even a 10kg carry on, no food at all) for €500+ each way.

    Some times they'd be €99. And this was booking way in advance.

    I actually flew to Toronto with them for €120 return before. Was brilliant but only included my backpack.

    Expensive baggage costs also per leg which added up to make them most of he time, more expensive than the legacy carriers.

    Plus, KEF is an absolute nightmare for a layover. Rip off prices for everything. Sandwiches in a shop €12-€15+...

    Obviously a shame to see them go but I did wonder how they managed to survive this long.


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    #72
    grimm2005
    Registered Users Posts: 2,890 ✭✭✭grimm2005


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    Wow's pricing model was very strange.

    Often I saw them selling flights with basic (not even a 10kg carry on) for €500+ each way.

    Some times they'd be €99.

    I actually flew to Toronto with them for €120 return before. Was brilliant but only included my backpack.

    Expensive baggage costs also per leg which added up to make them most of he time, more expensive than the legacy carriers.

    Plus, KEF is an absolute nightmare for a layover. Rip off prices for everything. Sandwiches in a shop €12-€15+...

    Obviously a shame to see them go but I did wonder how they managed to survive this long.

    Yeah I had intended to use them for a trip to Iceland at some point but their stingy baggage policy and the weird prices meant I could never really consider them for transatlantic. For a longer trip like that, I'd want a 10kg carry on but adding one on was something crazy like €40 per leg, automatically adding €80 to the fare and much of the time pushing it above a direct flight with a legacy carrier.

    Definitely not a good thing to lose competition in the market, but when you compare them with Norwegian for low cost transatlantic, the choice is obvious for me, with a direct flight (granted, to a distant airport), proper baggage allowance and pretty consistent pricing. If they go as well which seems almost likely at this point, it'll be the nail in the coffin for low cost transatlantic carriers for the foreseeable future I reckon.


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    #73
    California Dreamer
    Registered Users Posts: 2,504 ✭✭✭California Dreamer


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

    Plus, KEF is an absolute nightmare for a layover. Rip off prices for everything. Sandwiches in a shop €12-€15+...


    Thats not just KEF, Iceland is a very expensive country.


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    #74
    the_syco
    Registered Users Posts: 37,295 ✭✭✭✭the_syco


    Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »
    Wow's pricing model was very strange.

    Often I saw them selling flights with basic fares (not even a 10kg carry on, no food at all) for €500+ each way.

    Some times they'd be €99. And this was booking way in advance.
    IIRC, Iceland tourism subsidized it? I'm wondering if perhaps the money was pulled as the tourism angle wasn't working as well as they hoped.


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    #75
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users Posts: 3,464 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    California Dreamer wrote: »
    Thats not just KEF, Iceland is a very expensive country.

    Absolutely! :D Was there for 5 days and came home nearly broke! :p


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    #76
    Curb Your Enthusiasm
    Registered Users Posts: 3,464 ✭✭✭Curb Your Enthusiasm


    the_syco wrote: »
    IIRC, Iceland tourism subsidized it? I'm wondering if perhaps the money was pulled as the tourism angle wasn't working as well as they hoped.

    Well they were advertising fares to the USA from €129 via DUB up to yesterday. I only received another promo email from them last night.


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    #77
    ongarboy
    Registered Users Posts: 5,201 ✭✭✭ongarboy


    Media outlets will be now be deprived of all the press releases associated with announcing new flights from Dublin to St Louis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinatti and other random second tier US cities etc with of course the unimportant detail of a stop over in Reykjavik curiously omitted.

    I'm sorry to see any business go bust but I could never understand how an airline from a country with a population less than Cork offer more direct flights to the USA from Europe then any other airline and be profitable. The transit traffic from Europe they envisaged to sustain all those routes never seemed to materialize. I fly to the States about twice a year and I couldn't opt to go hours out of my way like that if I had direct flights from Europe (as we are blessed with choice from Dublin) or at least arrive in a hub like JFK, BOS, ORD etc and then have in many cases, hourly connecting flights to my final destination.


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    #78
    cson
    Registered Users Posts: 14,407 ✭✭✭✭cson


    They can offer those flights through an accident of geography.

    Regardless, ULCC don't work transatlantic. You really need the J yields to make the routes viable.


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    #79
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,552 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    cson wrote: »
    They can offer those flights through an accident of geography.

    Regardless, ULCC don't work transatlantic. You really need the J yields to make the routes viable.

    I think for many of us the fact that the Irish media swallowed the PR and gave so much exposure to them as offering Ireland-North America flights while not giving the same opportunity to, for example, BA, Lufthansa, Turkish, or Finnair through their respective hubs was very frustrating.

    I’ve no beef with the airline per se and am sorry to see it go but an even pitch is needed. They got a lot of free publicity.


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    #80
    cson
    Registered Users Posts: 14,407 ✭✭✭✭cson


    LXFlyer wrote: »
    I think for many of us the fact that the Irish media swallowed the PR and gave so much exposure to them as offering Ireland-North America flights while not giving the same opportunity to, for example, BA, Lufthansa, Turkish, or Finnair through their respective hubs was very frustrating.

    I’ve no beef with the airline per se and am sorry to see it go but an even pitch is needed. They got a lot of free publicity.

    They more than likely paid indirectly for that coverage through higher advertising fees paid to Irish outlets.


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    #81
    LXFlyer
    Registered Users Posts: 17,552 ✭✭✭✭LXFlyer


    cson wrote: »
    They more than likely paid indirectly for that coverage through higher advertising fees paid to Irish outlets.

    Not sure about that - they even got coverage on RTÉ News programmes.

    It was way beyond what they should have got.


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    #82
    basill
    Registered Users Posts: 1,348 ✭✭✭basill


    I would say they gave free trips to buy the column inches. Nice hotels, transfers etc.


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    #83
    grimm2005
    Registered Users Posts: 2,890 ✭✭✭grimm2005


    LXFlyer wrote: »
    Not sure about that - they even got coverage on RTÉ News programmes.

    It was way beyond what they should have got.

    I would say part of it was the headline price of €200 round trip to the states or whatever it was at the time was unheard of and likely got them a lot of free press.


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    #84
    Del2005
    Registered Users Posts: 18,882 ✭✭✭✭Del2005


    the_syco wrote: »
    IIRC, Iceland tourism subsidized it? I'm wondering if perhaps the money was pulled as the tourism angle wasn't working as well as they hoped.

    Could be the other way round, Iceland has reported problems of overtoursim

    https://www.roughguides.com/special-features/overtourism-in-iceland/

    LXFlyer wrote: »
    I think for many of us the fact that the Irish media swallowed the PR and gave so much exposure to them as offering Ireland-North America flights while not giving the same opportunity to, for example, BA, Lufthansa, Turkish, or Finnair through their respective hubs was very frustrating.

    I’ve no beef with the airline per se and am sorry to see it go but an even pitch is needed. They got a lot of free publicity.

    I'd say it was the media overcompensating for a lack of good news about regional airports so they over hyped it. If they hadn't pushed the transAtlantic low cost carriers from Shannon and Cork people would be moaning about the news being Dublin centric, when they overhype the airlines PR the knowledgeable people talk amongst themselves.


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    #85
    Hotblack Desiato
    Registered Users Posts: 33,953 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato


    Norwegian pulled the same trick...

    Life ain't always empty.



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    #86
    California Dreamer
    Registered Users Posts: 2,504 ✭✭✭California Dreamer


    Wow could be back!

    https://turisti.is/2019/04/wow-air-founder-looking-to-revive-bankrupt-carrier/


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    #87
    jjbrien
    Registered Users Posts: 2,678 ✭✭✭jjbrien


    California Dreamer wrote: »
    Wow could be back!

    https://turisti.is/2019/04/wow-air-founder-looking-to-revive-bankrupt-carrier/

    I was surprised when i seen this. Seems they want to do charter services for other carriers then start back flying pax in June. Doubt they will get the funding who would want to invest in an airline that already went bust before.


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    #88
    Thirdfox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,110 ✭✭✭Thirdfox


    grimm2005 wrote: »
    I would say part of it was the headline price of €200 round trip to the states or whatever it was at the time was unheard of and likely got them a lot of free press.

    My friend and I had an awesome roadtrip around Florida (Key West, Everglades and Cape Canaveral) thanks to their flight to Miami for 230 euro return (including checked luggage!).

    Sad to see them go but it was crazy to think people would stop over in Iceland for X hours when you can fly direct instead (unless the price was rock bottom).


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    #89
    California Dreamer
    Registered Users Posts: 2,504 ✭✭✭California Dreamer


    No love for Skuli to pull this off. 1100 people have lost jobs in WOW and the associated job losses from this will put Iceland in general in the sh1t house!

    Leaving aside the salaries owed to staff. A lot of line pilots down 8-12k as well as cabin crew and the suppliers to the airline that were providing services up to the 11th hour.


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    #90
    Locker10a
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 4,145 Mod ✭✭✭✭Locker10a


    California Dreamer wrote: »
    No love for Skuli to pull this off. 1100 people have lost jobs in WOW and the associated job losses from this will put Iceland in general in the sh1t house!

    Leaving aside the salaries owed to staff. A lot of line pilots down 8-12k as well as cabin crew and the suppliers to the airline that were providing services up to the 11th hour.
    I think I read else where that they employed a huge amount of nurses as crew, and there was actually a small shortage of nurses in Iceland as a result and that most of those crew/nurses will be snapped up immediately into nursing roles. Obviously it’s not the same for everyone especially pilots. They had a few Irish pilots among other nationalities so I’d imagine the pilot group will disperse all over the place fairly quickly


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    #91
    theguzman
    Registered Users Posts: 2,081 ✭✭✭theguzman


    Locker10a wrote: »
    I think I read else where that they employed a huge amount of nurses as crew, and there was actually a small shortage of nurses in Iceland as a result and that most of those crew/nurses will be snapped up immediately into nursing roles. Obviously it’s not the same for everyone especially pilots. They had a few Irish pilots among other nationalities so I’d imagine the pilot group will disperse all over the place fairly quickly

    I had an ex-GF who qualified as a Nurse and then went onto do Cabin Crew in her early twenties for a few years and then went back to Nursing afterwards. Being a RN is a huge bonus when it comes to getting accepted for Cabin Crew service. I'm soon alot of young Icelandic women would love to work for Wow instead of being stuck in dreary cold and damp Iceland. Cabin Crew is a chance to travel the world, have fun and build some work experience, usually by young and attractive women, except in the US where it is seen as a real career.


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