Branson said the new airline, V Australia, would have initiated service around Christmas, rather than later this month, if not for the Machinists strike last year, which deprived it of the necessary planes.
“The strike hurt hundreds of thousands of our passengers,” Branson told reporters. “It messed up Virgin Atlantic, it messed up Virgin Blue in Australia, it ruined people’s Christmas holidays. It was absolutely and utterly ghastly.”
He continued, “If union leaders and management can’t get their act together to avoid strikes, we’re not going to come back here again. We’re already thinking, ‘Would we ever risk putting another order with Boeing?’ It’s that serious.”
He’s right. Branson ordered those back in March 2007. VOZ was to get their first B773 in December, and because of the strike, Boeing missed their delivery date. He had tickets sold for their special on their first day of service, and that got pushed back by over two months. If I were him, I’d be upset too, as that disrupted not only his plans, but the plans of customers who purchased the tickets. He either had to refund them, or they said screw it, and went with QFA or UAL.
He also mentioned that if Boeing doesn’t get their act together, especially in regards to the B787, he’s going to take his business elsewhere (read: Airbus and Embraer).
Apparently, they were slated to get them some time in 2011, but now they are pushed back to 2013 (and that is assuming no more delays and no cancellations).
You know, looking at the picture at the top of this thread you’d think the guy is just a bum…but he is one damn smart man. He is not stupid, and if Boeing thinks he’s bluffing it is sad for them. They better get their house in order or they are going to really piss off a lot more customers.
I don’t know the exact details of the strike, but I’m curious to know what was the straw that broke the camels back.
The strike occurred shortly before Branson was to take delivery of the B777 pictured above. With the strike halting all production at Boeing, and the VIR fleet already used to capacity (he only has B744s and A340s for any long haul routes), he did not have any planes to spare to be pulled off any routes to accommodate his introductory service for VOZ. VOZ only has B737s and EJets. PBN only has B737s. VRD has A319s/A320s. VGN only has B737s and EJets. VSN isn’t flying anymore.
So when he bought the planes back in March 2007, he and Boeing signed a contract stating that the first B777 would be delivered in November 2008 so he could start service in December. Boeing missed the date because of them and the Machinists Union being hardheaded, causing a 10 week strike, delaying all planes, let alone the B787 (on top of the B787 issues). Branson has the B787 on order as well, and his delivery date on that has been pushed back as well. The B787 was already well documented, as everyone who ordered it is either pissed and waiting, or outright cancelled.
What pushed Branson over was that he had tickets sold for travelers over the Christmas Holiday (he advertised introductory fares YSSY-KLAX roundtrip for $185USD), which not only did he not have a plane to fly them on, but either had to refund the money or purchase tickets on his competitors planes because these travelers had plans over their holiday season. So him not getting his B777 pushed him over, to say what other airline execs wanted to say, but didn’t have the testicular fortitude to say.
It is unique, certainly. I did a double take when I saw it parked at Oshkosh. I didn’t know who it belonged to until I looked it up later and saw that it belonged to Richard Branson. He had been in for the SpaceShipTwo announcement, if I remember correctly.
Thank you for the info. I guess I asked the question incorrectly, what caused the IAM to say f-you Boeing and take to the picket line? I don’t know if I ever heard a definate answer on that. I am not sure “Being hard headed” is the right answer. As has been debated in here on other postings some feel unions are no longer needed amd others still see them as needed.
A tail with that paint job requires a body on the order the Iron Maiden 757. The eyeball and plain white just don’t mix! N991LF isn’t much better. It looks 20 years old.
