Delta eyes Virgin Atlantic swoop

[General Lee]

General, here is Branson's reply.

Richard's Blog
Sorry BA - we're not going anywhere

By Richard Branson -
Dec 10, 2012

Rumours have been spread in the press that I am planning to give up control of Virgin Atlantic and, according to Willie Walsh - who runs BA - that our brand will soon disappear.

This is wishful thinking and totally misguided. Will BA never learn? Let's see how much they believe this. Let them put their money where their mouth is.

The last time BA had to make a settlement to me for damages (in part for spreading not dissimilar false rumours) I split the money amongst our staff. Rather than suing them on this occasion, I will pay £1 million to their staff if Virgin Atlantic disappears within say five years. If not, BA pays our staff £1 million.

Virgin Atlantic was my baby 28 years ago when we set up with just one plane. Like all children, they never really stop being your babies and Virgin Atlantic is still much cherished. It has grown into a wonderful airline which has punched above its weight for almost three decades, giving much larger airlines a real run for their money.

We intend to carry on doing so for many years to come and, contrary to Mr Walsh's hopes, we have no plans to disappear. But since they are so confident, will BA accept our challenge?

By Richard Branson. Founder of Virgin Group


http://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog/sorry-ba--were-not-going-anywhere

DL was never going to "own" VA, the EU has a law against that. While many of us do not yet know the full extent of what each party wants here, we do know Singapore Airlines may want to sell it's 49% stake. Singapore Air didn't get extra slots at LHR owning that, but they did get "some say" in the boardroom. So, maybe a joint venture to compete with the AA/BA monopoly on the LHR/JFK route? LHR isn't a big connecting hub for Virgin, so point to point cooperation could happen. I don't see VA taking over all of the flights either, DL flies to other cities from LHR, like ATL, MSP, and DTW that VA doesn't do. Also, this possible JV would have to be approved by DALPA, and they increased DL mainline flying in the current AF/KL/AZ JV. If anything happens, it will probably be a front against the AA/BA wave across the Atlantic.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[cmrflyer]

That is all it would be, AF isn't going to get any shares off branson, so VS will still have control of it's slot at LHR.

 

[General Lee]

That is all it would be, AF isn't going to get any shares off branson, so VS will still have control of it's slot at LHR.

True. But, Richard Anderson did say on CNBC that there would be talk of slot reallocation eventually if everything is approved. VA isn't wildly profitable now, I think they have had a couple losing quarters lately. I am sure the CEOs and management people will get together (if this is cleared by the GOV'T) and try to obtain as much value as possible from EACH slot. They are finite, no more available currently. IF they want to be successful, they will figure out how to do it.

Also, Singapore bought the 49% share for 600 million Euros back in the day. The stock is worth less now probably, but a buy at $360 million seems like a good one. And, this is all about going up against BA and AA from LHR to JFK. Together they would have an overwhelming grip on that route, against 3 flights a day from DL and 5 or 6 from VA. This will help.


Bye Bye---General Lee