No worries, From what we've been told it's everything from pilots having enough hours to fly the planes bringing the aircrew and trolley dollies back and getting back up to peak at the various airports so to start there may well be a squeeze on supply as the whole world seems determined to go on holiday once this is all done.
I also concentrate on the call centre side and the companies I contract for quickly moved to home working by purchasing laptops and sorting out teleworker phones. All business was shifted to firstly bringing those on holiday home and then refunds. The money going back out everyday was eye watering. I like Mike G he used the word twaddle on GMTV to describe Grant Shapps and his it's illegal to book a holday line.
Sounds to me like we are on the same page! Shapps’ comments were a disgrace and the rest of the Govt’s response to supporting aviation has been woeful. About the only time they’ve addressed it was to raise APD in the recent budget. They’ve sat by whilst the industry haemorrhaged money and jobs, completely failing to grasp the simple fact it costs a very great deal to maintain the assets.
As far as being ready is concerned, the Number 2 focus has been and is being 100% ready to flick the switch and ramp up operations, pretty much overnight when the time comes. Not knowing when that time is going to come has been a major failing in the Govt response; taking a running **** at a rolling doughnut is not a sound basis for decision making.
The Number 1 focus has been cash preservation. My employer has behaved in an exemplary manner unlike many in the industry. They have paid me well, kept me informed and looked after me. I’ve received loads of innovative training to keep me on the ball and my pay has been changing monthly commensurate with their needs but all with unbreakable logic and justification behind the change.
Operationally, as I say, it’s all geared to having us at a rolling boil to go live when it kicks off and for that reason, I think we will be able to deliver. We have to be because as you say, it’ll be a feeding frenzy. We are basically being given flights at minimal notice at present, flying cargo. Normally if someone rang me and said “drop everything, go flying” I’d **** them right off unless they paid me the going rate for that as per our contracts, but now, because they’ve treated me so well I say “how can I help?”
To that end, gotta go, need to pack a bag as I’m just off to Gatwick to take 45 tonnes of Mercedes engines to Greenville, North Carolina tomorrow! It brings cash into the company, it brings cash to me and it‘s keeping us ready to fly people desperate for a holiday when the day comes. Trust me, there’s a huge amount of planning gone into it and everything is on a hair trigger. Bookings are already piling in.