Coffeepot

Well on principle we won't fly with them, i know not everyone can be choosy as they may have no choice, that is really greedy

sheli0508

I agree wholeheartedly with you - It's shit - there's no defending it but 600 people have lost their jobs. They where trying to pull themselves out of it but it didn't work. God I'm pissd that we can't get 5 of us there as reasonable as before but at least we are still working

and I know where your coming from with this one - our immigration story is a long one, as is most, suffice to say my OH thinks the gods are pulling us south not north!!

What do they say - what's meant to be will be........

anyway, sorry if I've upset anyone - I used to be a travel agent, when I was still a babe, and people sometimes forget the people on the ground that have also been affected.....

edsask

I'm afraid the reaction in our household was one of distinct schadenfreude. We had a nasty experience with Zoom last summer, when my wife was left stranded at Vancouver. Granted, it was at the time of the Glasgow airport attack and so the flight had to be delayed, but Zoom couldn't care less about keeping customers informed. My wife resolved that no one in our immediate or extended families would fly with Zoom ever again.

My heartfelt sympathies for both the passengers and the people on the ground who have been shafted, though. At least for the passengers, they'll be able to get their money back if they booked with a credit card. No replacement, but at least they'll get the money.

A little thought: Since we're now missing a budget transatlantic airline flying to destinations in Canada, wouldn't this be an opportunity for Westjet to step into the breach? I know with the high price of oil right now that it's unlikely, but a man can dream of flying with one airline from Glasgow to Saskatoon …

Souvenir

They'd need to get different planes. 737s can't fly that far. I wonder if anyone has some aircraft they don't need any more?

loser40

This situation sucks...

...lets just hope that Zoom gets the investment it needs, or, more likely, it's taken over by another budget airline.

There are many low budget carriers in Europe & N.A who would give there right arm for this established airline.

Don't totally give up hope just yet - Zoom is likely to be sold-on and operating again within a month or so.

Mark.

Ben W Bell

Most airlines have ticket pricing control software that deals with the prices. If they see a sudden demand in tickets, they'll increase the fares to make more money out of this sudden demand for a limited commodity. You can complain about it, but welcome to the free market economy. It's capitalism, and the way the western world turns I'm afraid, simply supply and demand.

welshmountie

Agreed and understood, but let's hope that the thresholds on the software are set low enough to work the other way to the same extremes when competition arrives.

Surrey Expat

Don't count on that. They have handed their AOC back to Transport Canada, the leases on the aircraft are canceled, so they don't have any aircraft now and the profitable routes will be taken over quickly by others. Zoom is only in name now.

With so many airlines struggling right now, I don't see a rush to pick it up. United announced yesterday that they are stopping meal service on some transatlantic flights to save costs. The problem with budget airlines is they are not low cost. The cost of operating a 767 is the same whoever runs it. However the lower the fares, the lower the profit, the more vulnerable they are to spikes in costs, without significant increases in fares, increasing freight revenue or reducing their labour and indirect costs further, there is only so far you can do this. In the short term low fares seem great, but they are not necessarily to the advantage of the traveler, as we saw yesterday and on several other occasions over the last 5 years.

There have been complaints about why they kept taking bookings when they knew they were in trouble, they were trying to stay out of trouble and restructure. Announce that your business is in trouble, while you're still operating is a sure way to guarantee going out of business. As soon as the business was not recoverable they voluntarily shut down operations. It is hard for those affected, hopefully refunds will come and those stranded will get to their destinations safely.

Zoe Bell

This was all precipitated by one of the fuel companies demanding payment for overdue bills. Once this happened the leasing company started getting involved ,causing two planes to be impounded. Then suddenly everyone started going "me too , me too". Thus starting a snowball effect.

I had been following a thread on a flyers forum where there were rumours that zoom had an offer from new owners for several weeks now. I genuiuely believe that the company was on the verge of a "rescue package" when this happened

And for those of you who think that this only happens to low cost carriers . SWissair went belly up a few years ago , the public may not have noticed much other than rebranding and hastily rebooked flights but the workers sure did. Air Canada was (still is ?) flying under bankrupcy protection for years while they re financed as were (are?) most of the large american carriers.

Surrey Expat

The first incident was a holding order of a 767 in Glasgow by the CAA for non payment of Nav fees. Then when another aircraft landed in Calgary, as soon as the engines were shut down the leasing company pulled the lease for non payment of lease charges and Zoom were instructed to hand the registration document to TC. Without this it cannot legally fly.

A refueller would not fuel Zoom aircraft unless paid in cash ($60,000 a fill up). A deal was almost done for refinancing, but the creditors pretty much pulled the plug.

There is a big difference between low cost and budget airlines. Low cost can be quite profitable, they keep costs to a minimum and profits at a manageable level. If costs are disproportionate to profits, eventually there is a problem. Air Canada had a similar situation, they are no longer on bankruptcy protection, several large American airlines have found themselves in similar situations, many others have ceased operations.

The fallout is not over yet.

Sockdogg

Look like Air Canada are upping their prices too, Halifax to Gatwick this morning was $969 (return) and now its $1112 for the same flight.
If only i'd have brought my credit card to work this morning! I'm going to call them and thank them for me now not being able to go to my grandmothers funeral.

Grah

because until the hammer falls they can still be in business.

If the re-finance went thru at the last minute then they could fly.

But also they probably didn't tell their staff and they wont be paying any wages as their creditors are ahead of staff wages and holiday pay etc.

The only winners in all of this are LAWYERS.

Rob_999

Yep - too true.

I'm amazed at the number of people on here that are still booking with Canadian Affair / Air Transat and alike. I'm expecting another airline to go under pretty soon. It's either that or raise prices. BA was no more expensive so I've booked with them.....

loser40

" Don't count on that. They have handed their AOC back to Transport Canada, the leases on the aircraft are canceled, so they don't have any aircraft now and the profitable routes will be taken over quickly by others. Zoom is only in name now. "

You may be right, but I reckon other budget/low cost carrier's will be very very interested in acquiring Zoom for several reasons.

Like you said, Zoom own valuable take-off and landing slots at Gatwick and elsewhere. These slots alone are worth tens, if not hundreds of millions of pounds.

This, added to no or few existing Zoom leased aircraft gives a new buyer flexible options where, if desired, they could move current grounded aircraft to the Zoom routes, and if needed, there excess staff.

Currently, RyanAir carries more passengers annually than any other carrier on the planet - the MD has stated that they are in a strong cash position, so much so they are reducing prices to drive low cost & budget competitors within the E.U out of business.

An existing, successful carrier with a good business model has large economies of scale, this, with existing sales, marketing, & reservation staff will dramatically reduce the costs of running Zoom and thus make it more profitable.

As European budget & low cost airlines run out of routes within the EU which they can expand into, and thus keep there share holders happy and there share prices high, the only option to continue expansion is to look beyond the EU and at new markets and continents, and Zoom fits this urgent need nicely.

And don't forget, an existing E.U carrier would have the benefit of selling even more of there existing E.U intercontinental routes to new Zoom passengers flying in from N.A. It's a win - win IMO.

Many existing low cost & budget airlines will be very interested in acquiring Zoom.

This said, I wouldn't be surprised if an existing mid/up market carrier attempts to pay a premium, and then brake's up Zoom, with the intention of stopping low cost & budget carriers from doing the above, and in the process protecting there current market share and deterring competition.

M.

David W

I'd check Canadian Affair's website as they've had to change it because of EU law over here. Basically the prices advertised on the front page have to include all of the taxes whereas they didn't before and they were added at the end. The price you pay total should be the same.